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Spirit of the American Revolutm 

As Revealed in the Poetry of the Period 
SAMUEL WHITE PATTERSON 



"The Spirit of the American Revolution as Re- 
vealed in the Poetry of the Period" is a careful 
study of the emotional side of the epoch of which 
it treats. Not what the statesman thought, merely, 
but rather what the bards of the day felt is set forth 
clearly in the proper perspective of men and events. 
Several well-chosen portraits grace the pages. The 
history of the times that tried men's souls appears 
largely through the works in verse that issued forth 
in newspaper, broadside, pamphlet and volume of 
the day, with just enough commentary by the author 
to secure an adequate historical proportion. Bio- 
graphical matter and needless detail are subordinated 
to the presentation through the poetry itself of the 
larger sequence of events. A concluding chapter of 
retrospect, criticism and opinion is followed by an 
appendix including a carefully selected bibliography 
of source material, bibliographical, poetical and crit- 
ical, which is at once authoritative and for the most 
part generally accessible. 



Studies in English Literature 



The Spirit of 
The American Revolution 

AS REVEALED IN THE POETRY OF THE PERIOD 

A STUDY OF AMERICAN PATRIOTIC VERSE 
FROM 1760 TO 1783 

BY 

SAMUEL WHITE PATTERSON, A. M., Ph. D. 

DeWitt Clinton High School and Columbia University 
Lecturer, Board of Education, New York City 




f^j/scn etv6RrrAra & 



BOSTON: RICHARD G. BADGER 

TORONTO: THE COPP CLARK CO., LIMITED 



THIS tkesis kas been accepteci ly tke Graduate Sckool of New 
York University, in partial fulfillment of tke requirements for 
tke Degree of Doctor of Pkilosopky, June, 1913. 



Copyrljfht, 1915, by Samuel White Patterson 



All Rights Reserved 



-^3 



^o^\^ 



OCT I /lift 



The Gorham Prbs6, Boston, U. S. A. 



PREFACE 

The present study seeks to show forth the spirit that 
moved men during the struggle for American independ- 
ence as that spirit is revealed in the verse of the period 
from 1760 when George III acceded to the throne of 
England to 1783 when peace ensued. It has been thought 
wise to quote rather liberally not only from the best work 
that was produced but from work of little or no literary 
merit and worthy of consideration and remembrance on 
no other account than the purpose in hand. The vast 
mass of the poetic output is thus made to speak for itself 
as a whole through selections widely varying in quality 
and worth. At the same time it serves to illustrate the 
prose narrative of the conflict, written for the most part 
on broad general lines and necessary for the better under- 
standing of the verse. 

Some works have seemed to merit rather full quotation 
by reason either of their intrinsic literary worth or of their 
importance in connection with the event that inspired their 
composition or of the fact that omission of any part would 
impair their substance or their effect. Loyalist poetry has 
not been overlooked but has been made to lend an edge to 
the conflict of opinion. 

No one familiar with the literature of the period treated 
will fail to note the obligations another laborer must al- 
ways be under who enters the old vineyard. The bibli- 
ographers whose works are cited have been especially help- 
ful as guides to the original sources. Excellent previous 

3 



4 Preface 

work has been done in the field considered. The append- 
ed bibliography contains in part the titles of the works 
which have formed with the early newspapers the basis 
for the present study. Many of these are difficult to 
obtain save in the largest libraries but there are others 
quite accessible to all. Throughout the work a number 
of authorities are cited from time to time in the text and 
in the foot-notes. I have not quoted always from first 
editions because, frequently, such a course would do in- 
justice to the poet concerned without helping the reader 
better to appreciate the spirit of the times. A notable 
example will be found in Freneau who very carefully 
revised his work in 1786 and later, and whose works are 
now within easy reach in the well-edited volumes of 
Professor Pattee referred to in the text as "Poems." In 
the matter of biographical detail, I have tried to subordin- 
ate it to its proper position, giving such facts as would 
elucidate the poem quoted or the event discussed, reserv- 
ing the greater space, usually in the text itself, for the 
more significant persons of the period. 

Of course, Professor Tyler's monumental work on the 
period treated stands alone in its class. Not to mention 
this scholar and the inspiration emanating from his labors 
would be an unpardonable oversight. His great study of 
our early literature is absorbing. It is, however, specifi- 
cally a "literary study" whereas the present work seeks 
to subordinate the purely literary merit of a piece of verse 
to its merit in exposition of the events, characters and 
discussions of the revolutionary era. 

I wish here to acknowledge my debt to the authorities 
of the libraries whose services I have been pleased to 



Preface 5 

accept in the no light work of securing many times for my 
use the volumes and papers necessary and in their care. 
Especially, in this respect, I would mention the librarians 
and their assistants of the New York Historical Society 
Library, Columbia University Library, and the New York 
Public Library. Particularly, to Mr. Victor H. Paltsits, 
formerly state historian of New York, and, at present, 
keeper of manuscripts in the New York Public Library, 
am I indebted for scholarly counsel in the matter of 
illustrations. He has advised the rejection of the so- 
called Freneau portrait upon the ground that "no life- 
portrait exists of him." Upon investigation of his authori- 
ties, which he kindly gave me, I have accepted his judg- 
ment. 

To the following firms and associations I desire to 
express my thanks for their consent to my using material 
from books whose copyright they hold: 

Messrs. G. P. Putnam's Sons of New York and London 
— Tyler's "The Literary History of the American Revolu- 
tion" and "Three Men of Letters," P. L. Ford's "Writ- 
ings of Thomas Jefferson," W. C. Ford's "Writings of 
George Washington," Conway's "Writings of Thomas 
Paine," Stanton's "Manual of American Literature." 
Messrs. Longmans, Green and Co. — Roosevelt's "New 
York," Trevelyan's "American Revolurion;" Messrs. 
Houghton, Mifflin and Co. — Stedman's "An American An- 
thology," Wilson's "Mere Literature," Winsor's "Narra- 
tive and Critical History of America;" Messrs. Charles 
Scribner's Sons — Wendell's "A Literary History ot 
America;" The Macmillan Company — Whitcomb's 
"Chronological Outlines of American Literature," Rose's 



6 Preface 

"William Pitt and National Revival" (G. Bell and 
Sons, London), Crawshaw's "Literary Interpretation of 
Life," Acton's "Cambridge Modern History," Smith's 
"United States: An Outline of Political History;" 
Messrs. Harper and Brothers — Lodge's "A Short History 
of the English Colonies in America," Green's "A Short 
History of the English People;" and "A History of the 
English People;" Messrs. A. S. Barnes and Co. — "Maga- 
zine of American History;" Messrs. J. Munsell's 
Sons — Stone's "Ballads and Poems Relating to the Bur- 
goyne Campaign;" The Sons of the Revolution of New 
York — Johnston's "Memoir of Col. Benjamin Tall- 
madge;" The Princeton Historical Association — Pattee's 
"The Poems of Philip Freneau;" The Historical Society 
of Pennsylvania — "Memoirs of the Life and Writings of 
John Dickinson;" The American Book Company — 
Green's "A Short History of the English People." 

I wish to express my appreciation of the advice and 
criticism offered from time to time by Professor Francis 
Hovey Stoddard, of New York University. Professor 
Henry Phelps Johnston of the College of the City of New 
York I wish to thank for his permission to quote his 
authoritative works. Finally, to many valued friends 
whom it would not be to their liking to name but who 
by thoughtful word or active service have rendered my 
labors lighter I wish to express my gratitude. 

Samuel White Patterson. 

New York, 191 5. 



CONTENTS 
Chapter Page 

/. INTRODUCTORY 17 

/. American Verse Prior to 1750. 
//. The Verse of the Revolution. 

Part I. The Period of Controversy 

//. THE BATTLE OF WORDS 31 

Character of the revolt — not isolated fact but 
deep-rooted — the colonist's environment and in- 
heritance — The new King, George III, and his 
purposes — Parliamentary measures — their spon- 
sors and their effect — Gradual change of senti- 
ment from loyalty to revolt — "Dialogue and 
Ode on the Death of George IT' — "On the Ac- 
cession of His present gracious Majesty" — The 
Stamp Act and attendant circumstances — Gov- 
ernor Bernard's speech — Loyalists and Patriots. 
Indications of deeper meaning — Thomas Jeffer- 
son's vieiu — John Dickinson — sketch of his life 
— his "Liberty Song," 1768 — A British bishop's 
sermon — Colonial women and their aid. 
III. THE EARLY SEVENTIES 45 

Philip Freneau — "the poet of the Revolution" 
— his influence — his life and early work — the 
colonial college and its spirit — Freneau's later 
years — "The Rising Glory of America" — 



Contents 
Chapter Page 

Trumbull's "The Prospect*' — The trouble over 
tea — two poems — The Boston Port Act — its 
effect — Loyalist verse — The first Continental 
Congress — Patrick Henry and Thomas Jeffer- 
son — "A Summary View" — Rev. Samuel Sea- 
bury and his "farmer s letters" — Lexington and 
Concord — The second Continental Congress, 
May, 1775. 

IV. THE CALL TO ARMS 61 

Beginnings about Boston — Bunker Hill — H. 
H. Brackenridge — his life — his dramatic work 
on Bunker Hill — Warren, Lord Howe — Con- 
tinued interest in Bunker Hill — Joel Barlow — 
"The Vision of Columbus" — the author s life 
and literary work — "The Hartford Wits" — 
the battle scene from "The Vision" — Thomas 
Paine's "Liberty Tree" — his life and influence 
— Freneaus "A Political Litany" — his "Amer- 
ican Liberty" — Poem on the coming of British 
commanders — Freneaus "General Gage's Solil- 
oquy" — his "The Midnight Consultations" — 
his "To the Americans" and "General Gage's 
Confession" — Expedition to Canada — Death 
of Montgomery — Ann Eliza Bleeckers poem 
thereon — Barlow's picture — "The Pennsylvania 
March" and "High on the Banks of Delaware." 

V. "M'FINGAL" 83 

The three major poets of the Revolution dif- 
ferentiated — John Trumbull — his life — origin 
of "M'Fingal" — the work itself — Cantos I and 



Contents 
Chapter Page 

//. The Town-Meeting — the debate between 
'Squire M'Fingal and Honorius — Canto III 
— The Liberty Pole — the 'Squire's discomfiture 
— Canto IV — The Vision — the future patriot 
success revealed — Criticisms and general esti- 
mate of the work — its popularity — close of the 
period of controversy. 

Part II. From the Declaration of Independence 
TO THE Treaty of Alliance 

VL JULY 4th, 1776 103 

Early military operations, 1 775-1 776 — Can- 
ada — Massachusetts — evacuation of Boston by 
British — ''A Military Song" — President Myles 
Cooper, Tory — his life — a poem in exile- — ''Com- 
mon Prayer for the Times" — The Declaration 
of Independence — Thomas Paine — John Dick- 
inson — Jonathan Odell — his life — an ode on 
the king's birthday — The Declaration published 
and read — Washington's letter to the President 
of Congress — the bards — ''On Independence." 
VII. "THE TIMES THAT TRY MEN'S 

SOULS" 117 

Washington's move?nents following Howe — 
Brooklyn Heights — grave concern — Nathan 
Hale: spy — his mission; its purpose and results 
— poem thereon — The retreat through New Jer- 
sey — a dreary summer and autumn — "the times 
That try men's souls^' — David Humphreys's verse 



Contents 
Chapter Page 

— Letters of Washington describing his situation 
— Rev. Wheeler Case on the victory at Trenton 
— "The Cornwalliad" and lingering echoes. 

VIII . TWO CRITICAL YEARS 126 

Campaign of Burgoyne in New York about 
the upper Hudson, 1777 — the British proclama- 
tion and parodies thereof — the "Green Moun- 
tain Boys" — Jane McCrea — St. Leger — Herki- 
mer — Surrender at Saratoga — Joel Barlow's 
"Vision of Colu7nbus*' quoted — Convention with 
France, 1778 — "The Northern Campaign" — 
Gen. Gates — "To Britain" — Joseph Stansbury's 
"Ode for the Year 1778" — Tory feeling on the 
French Alliance — Patriotism of Wo?nen — Fran- 
cis Hopkinson — his life and place — "The Battle 
of the Kegs" — Freneaus "Ajnerica Independ- 
ent" — Our navy — the "Alliance"- — Freneaus 
poem. 

Part III. From the Treaty of Alliance to the 
Peace of 1783. 

IX. THE OLIVE BRANCH AND WAR 
OVERSEA 153 

General character of closing years — "A Form 
of Prayer" — Freneau, Barlow and Trumbull — 
Three poems by Freneau — Rev. Wheeler Case 
— his "Answer for the Messengers of the 
Nation" — "The Dutch Song" — War on the seas 
— John Paul J ones — "TheYankee Man-of-War" 



Contents 
Chapter Page 

— Freneau, again — "Captain Jones's Invitation' 
— "On the Memorable Victory" — Loyal verse — 
Rev. Jonathan Odell — "The Feu de Joie" — 
"The American Times" — "The Word of Con- 
gress" — Rev. John Wesley's "Hymn" — A sav- 
age attack in verse on the Loyalists. 
X. 17S0 170 

Charleston and Camden — The patriotic wo- 
men — their efforts — the bards thereon — "Our 
Women" — Discovery of the treachery of Bene- 
dict Arnold — the traitor's early life and service 
— at Philadelphia — his conduct there — the rep- 
rimand — negotiations with Clinton — Major 
John Andre's mission — its failure — Major Tall- 
madge — Andre's trial and execution as a spy — 
Wide interest in the treason episode — the three 
captors — character of Andre — "Monody" by 
Miss Seward — Freneau s "The Spy" — execration 
visited upon Arnold — "Arnold's Departure" — 
the traitor's later life. 

British prison-ships — Freneau' s experience — the 
hospital-ships — "The British Prison-Ship" by 
Freneau — David Humphreys's lines — what au- 
thorities have to say on these ships. 

The war in the South — Cornwallis — Greene 
— Marion, Sumter, and Pickens. 
XL YORKTOWN AND AFTER 192 

Supreme interest in the outcome of Cornwal- 
lis' s campaign in the South — Freneau s new 
"Freeman's Journal" — Eutaw Springs — ''To the 



Contents 
Chapter Page 

Memory of the Brave Americans under General 
Greene, in South Carolina, Who fell in the ac- 
tion of September 8, 1 781" — General Greene 
— the campaign before Yorktown — Joel Barlow^s 
tribute to Greene — Freneaus estimate of Corn- 
wallis — The surrender — Personal element in 
poetry of the time — ''The Prospect of America" 
by Ladd — Thanksgiving over the peace — 
"Peace/' by Low — "A Thanksgiving Hymn" — 
Delay in making definitive treaty — Loyalists and 
their views — Joseph Stansbury — "The United 
States" — ''Let us be Happy as Long as we Can" 
— Freneau toward the Tories — "Truth Antici- 
pated" — toward King George — three poems — 
toward patriot leaders — David Humphreys on 
Washington — Freneau s "Verses Occasioned 
by General Washington's arrival in Philadelphia 
on his way to his seat in Virginia, December, 
1783." 
XII. CONCLUSION 212 

Retrospect, Criticism, and Opinion. 

A nation s poetry — its value — The spirit of the 
American Revolution — its complex nature — 
Trevelyan on British public opinion — Professor 
Tyler on the Loyalists' literary remains — Col- 
onists' knowledge of affairs and men — The bards 
and Washington — Hopkinson's early estimate — 
Philip Freneau, "the poet of the Revolution" — 
Criticism — Tyler, Wendell, Pattee, — An opin- 
ion — A verse-galaxy. 



Contents 
Chapter Page 

APPENDIX 219 

/. Bibliographical 
II. Sources — selected 

1. Primary sources — Original Works of 

Individual Poets 

2. Secondary Sources — Collections of 

Verse 

3. Critical, Historical, Biographical 
INDEX 227 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

John Trumbull Frontispiece 

From The Poetical Works of John Trumbull, 
LL.D. Samuel G. Goodrich, Hartford, 
1820. 

Joel Barlow page 66 

From The National Portrait Gallery of Distin- 
guished Americans. Robert E. Peterson 
and Co., Philadelphia, 1852. 

Myles Cooper , . . . page 106 

From A History of Columbia University, 1754- 
1904. New York, 1904. Courtesy of Co- 
lumbia University Press. 

Francis Hopkinson page 140 

From The National Portrait Gallery of Distin- 
guished Americans. 

Jonathan Odell page 166 

Courtesy of Mr. George W. Hewitt of St. 
Mary's Church, Burlington, N. J. 



THE SPIRIT OF THE AMERICAN 
REVOLUTION 



The Spirit of 
The American Revolution 

AS REVEALED IN THE POETRY OF THE PERIOD 



CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTORY 

I. American Verse Prior to 1750. 

Causes of colonial settlement and social and literary 
conditions in the Northern, Middle and Southern colonies 
— Early tone and quality of American literary work — 
Need of unifying impulse and broadened outlook — Early 
eighteenth century. 

THE English colonies fringing the Atlantic sea- 
board during the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- 
turies were founded severally through no single 
cause but rather, broadly speaking, by reason of a three- 
fold struggle: desire for religious freedom, thirst of ad- 
venture and interest in trade. New England was essen- 
tially different from her neighbors in the middle colonies 
and in the southern because of the closer communion of her 
people due m great measure to the union that comes of a 
common zeal and mutual aspiration. Her leaders were to 

17 



1 8 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

a large extent men of education and culture, at first of 
the English universities but later of their own Harvard, 
Yale and other and lesser institutions, founded as semin- 
aries chiefly for the ministry of the church. Natural con- 
ditions, present and traditional, forbade so close a unity 
of purpose in the pursuit of letters in the middle and 
southern colonies. In the one, old-vi^orld allegiance w^ent 
out to no one source but to several while in the other 
the large areas under cultivation or in the control of great 
houses obstructed intercourse and tended toward more or 
less isolation in matters intellectual. 

Throughout the century and a half before the American 
Revolution little was produced in the English colonies 
that may rightly be termed literature save work born of 
religious fervor and dogmatic earnestness with aim and 
purpose single toward informing the elect of God just 
what the eternal verities are and how the wicked shall 
be punished and the righteous received into their Father's 
mansions. What should have tended, it would seem, — 
if the spirit of the Master had been better and more truly 
perceived, — thoroughly to unite the peoples gathered in 
their several places of worship, appears rather to have 
sown the seed of discord, for we find during the colonial 
period little but "essays in religious polemics . . . 
[as] the chief product of the American presses."^ 

The most casual examination of early American verse 
cannot but evidence its lack of true poetic quality. In 
both subject-matter and manner of treatment its creators 
were limited. The Puritan influences of colonial New 



I. Brander Matthews's Introduction to Whitcomb's "Chron- 
ological Outlines," p. IX. 



Introductory 19 

England would hardly admit of topics drawn from a 
source other than Holy Writ. Psalm-paraphrasing and 
solemn meditations were the only necessary ends for the 
poetic aspiration. It was but consistent to use for subjects 
such as these a style and a manner at once formal and 
severe. The seventeenth century produced nothing greater 
in literature, therefore, than "The Bay-Psalm Book" and 
the gloomy, dreary waste of *'The Day of Doom" of 
Wigglesworth. 

With the dawn of the eighteenth century, stirring polit- 
ical events began to occur or rather the beginnings of a 
movement only too evidently deep and far-reaching in 
importance. The intercolonial wars had but begun. 
Though a considerable proportion of the people were 
now American by birth, all were still in spirit and sympa- 
thies loyally English. Limited as the versifiers yet re- 
mained through the lingering Calvinistic influence and 
their narrow, provincial outlook, a patriotic zeal growing 
more and more lively tended to broaden their poetic 
horizon and enable them to provide their countrymen with 
lyrics, often spirited and timely, such as "Lovewell's 
Fight," "The Conquest of Canaan," "Song of Braddock's 
Men," — work entirely typical of the product of poetic 
genius prior to the Revolution. These, however, were 
merely wanderings, vague and confused at times, in poetic 
paths well-worn. One cannot fail to observe from ever 
so slight a study of them that no true poet appeared within 
our borders for nearly two centuries after the landing 
at Jamestown. Not till Philip Freneau wrote his "Wild 
Honeysuckle" and "Eutaw Springs" was any poem print- 
ed in America worthy the name. We must, indeed, agree 



20 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

with the spirit of the following; "It would be possible to 
maintain the thesis that American literature began in 1 809 
with the publication of Irving's 'Knickerbocker's History 
of New York,' and certainly, with the exception of Frank- 
lin's 'Autobiography,' the 'Federalist,' and Brockden 
Brown's romances, scarcely any American book written 
before 1800 is today read for pleasure or by any one ex- 
cept special students. What was published in these United 
States while they were still colonies of England is of little 
interest from a literary point of view."^ 

There was needed, indeed, the quickening impulse born 
of a call that through the lessening of provincial narrow- 
ness would show men the folly of many of their petty 
quarrelings — there was needed the call of patriotic devo- 
tion to the preservation of principles that all, in the South 
as well as in the North, and in creed of any name, might 
feel and believe were deep and wide in application and 
great in worth. A call that could make a Virginian 
Churchman commander-in-chief in the city of the Dissen- 
ter surely had within itself the potentiality of union and 
would in time inspire what could truly be termed a com- 
mon country. In this connection it will be well to note a 
recent observation : "Independent America, . . . has 
displayed from the beginning of the Revolution a some- 
what sensitive consciousness of nationality. This was no- 
where more evident, at first, than in the efforts made by 
Americans, almost as soon as their national existence was 
assured, to enrich their country with a literature of its 
own. During colonial times there had been a good deal of 



I. Introduction; quoted above, p. 18. 



Introductory 2 1 

publication in America, but little of this had been liter- 
ary in character. The American writings of the seven- 
teenth century, mostly produced in New England, had 
been chiefly theological ; those of the eighteenth century, 
before the Revolution, had been chiefly political or his- 
torical. Such American work as had taken literary form 
had been frank and rather amateurish imitation of more 
or less fashionable English models. That America, as 
such, possessed anything resembling a native literature had 
never occurred to anybody."^ 

Such in brief was the state of American colonial litera- 
ture prior to the struggle for political freedom — all of it, 
we may say, imitative to a large extent and uninspiring to 
any modern reader save the student of literary origins, 
distinctive in its independence of that true tone which we 
associate with the inspiration of the great and looking 
abroad to the home-land and the traditions thereof for its 
spiritual source as the men and women themselves who 
created it did, in their outlook upon life. 

II. The Verse of the Revolution 

Character thereof and reasons therefor — The bards of 
the Revolution — their mission and their method— The 
three greatest: Hopkinson, Trumbull^ Freneau — critical 
comment thereon — Varied nature of Revolutionary verse 
— "epic," dramatic, narrative, lyric — The verse of the 
Revolution: an estimate of its worth. 

From the viewpoint of purely literary merit it cannot be 
said that the verse of the revolutionary epoch any more 



I. Barrett Wendell in "The Cambridge Modern History"; 
Vol. VII : "The United States," p. 740. 



22 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

than that which appeared before it, merits high praise. 
But certain it is that the poets of the time put forth their 
best efforts in the cause they espoused and they at least 
saw clearly the situation in which they found themselves, 
realizing vividly the issue in debate. Beyond this, if they 
failed, it was due to their limitations, past and present. 
Theirs were still models sanctioned by tradition on both 
sides of the Atlantic, replete with heroic couplets and 
biblical and classical allusion.^ Their experiences were 
too real and objective to encourage imaginative flights 
either in prose or verse for the period was essentially 
prosaic, matter-of-fact, materialistic; and yet, one may say, 
it was an age, too, strangely blending the idealistic with 
the practical. 

The writers during the period of the American Revolu- 
tion seemed fully to appreciate their mission. The one 
great blemish, shall it be said, which they evince was their 
excessively passionate and vituperative expression. Only 
seldom did they temper their thought when committing it 
to writing; only rarely, one feels, did many of them realize 
the truth of the sayings, "A soft answer turneth away 
wrath" and "Kind words never die." But then it should 
be remembered, that in times such as theirs to keep one's 
temper and to speak sober-mindedly are virtues perhaps 
of too high an order in the nature of things to expect. 

A recent work is at pains to distinguish these several 
classes of writers: those who are not quite up to their 
time, who have drunk too deeply of the past and its ways ; 
those on the other hand who seem to have been born out 



I. See quotation from Trumbull's "Prospect," pp. 52, ff., 
below. 



Introductory 23 

of due time and are so far in advance of their day ana 
generation that contemporaries hardly appreciate their 
worth and therefore neglect justly to appreciate them; 
and then, again, those who "seem to walk shoulder to 
shoulder with the age in which they live — neither a step 
behind nor a step in advance, though always in the front 
ranks. They utter the thought and feeling of the time 
while these are still fervent in men's hearts but before they 
have come to full consciousness. Such men are not 
prophets or reformers, though they may to a certain extent 
be leaders — all the more effective because they are not too 
far in advance of the host. Their truest function is that 
of interpreters, making the age aware of itself. They 
teach the true way of advance by making clear the way 
that is then being traversed, by bringing to light motives 
and aspirations that are then dominant. They are likely 
to be the popular writers of their day, though perhaps less 
secure of the future."^ Such "reveal merely the super- 
ficial aspects of nationality. They see outw^ard forms, 
or striking events, or popular ideas, and present them 
vividly and impressively."- In a sense, the greater poets 
of the Revolution take their places with these last. They 
were memorial izers, as it were, writers after the event 
and extollers thereof: none of them, of course, with pos- 
sibly one exception, rising to the heights, not even to the 
summit of the foot-hills. In all the poetry of the period 
we miss the lofty tone of the greater singers whose mighty 
notes of patriotism thrill us in such verse as "The Charge 
of the Light Brigade," or "Old Ironsides." With these 



1. Crawshaw: "Literary Interpretation of Life," p. 86. 

2. Ibid., p. 202. 



^4 '^he Spirit of the American Revolution 

the only poem of the Revolution at all comparable is the 
beautiful "Eutaw Springs" which is a real poem, a pure 
sustained anthem, unmarred by rancorous hate or gloomy 
foreboding. 

Critics have singled out, and justly so, three writers of 
the Revolution as especially worthy serious consideration, 
the authors of "M'Fingal," of *'The Battle of the Kegs," 
and of "Eutaw Springs." Professor Tyler has this to 
say of these: "Hopkinson took his true place as 
one of the three leading satirists on the whig side of the 
American Revolution — the other two being John Trum- 
bull and Philip Freneau. In the long and passionate con- 
troversy in which these three satirists bore so effective a 
part, each is distinguished by his own peculiar note. The 
political satire of Freneau and of Trumbull is, in general, 
grim, bitter, vehement, unrelenting. Hopkinson's satire 
is as keen as theirs, but its characteristic note is one of 
playfulness. They stood forth the wrathful critics and 
assailants of the enemy, confronting him with a hot and 
an honest hatred, and ready to overwhelm him with an 
acerbity that was fell and pitiless; Hopkinson . . . 
was too gentle, too tender-hearted, ... for that sort 
of warfare. As a satirist, he accomplished his effects with- 
out bitterness or violence."^ In Chapter V we shall read 
the same critic's opinion of "M'Fingal," the masterpiece 
of Trumbull. Of the same production, others have been 
not quite so enthusiastic though they see its merit and con- 
sider it in no sense a slavish imitation of Butler's "Hudi- 
bras." We may add finally, in passing, that "M'Fingal" 



I. Tyler in Stanton's "Manual of American Literature," pp. 
50, 51. 



Introductory 25 

was the greatest venture in metrical satire by an American 
before the appearance of Lewell's '*Biglow Papers." Allow- 
ing due weight to such criticisms as the above upon the work 
of Hopkinson and Trumbull, for one feels that they are 
just, one still believes that, while the influence of the 
two poets mentioned was undoubtedly wide and deep, the 
labors of Philip Freneau were so persistent and vigorous, 
so all-embracing in the selection of topics, in the variety 
of poetic forms essayed, and so keen and conscious of the 
inherent rectitude of the patriot cause espoused that they 
entitle their author to first place among the verse-makers 
of his time. From a literary standpoint Freneau displayed 
a greater skill in his nature poems than in his patriotic 
verse^ as may be seen by comparing "The Wild Honey- 
suckle" or ''The Honey-Bee" with his ballads and other 
work. And he showed originality in his treatment of the 
Indian and of the savage life as witness "The Indian Bury- 
ing-Ground" and "The Dying Indian." But he was in no 
sense a great singer, his work is exceedingly unequal in 
merit and if he lives in the memory of his countrymen it 
will be on account of his association with the "spirit of 
'76," the cherished thought of which Americans arc not 
apt soon to let die. 

The revolutionary bards produced verse in a wide 
variety of forms — the epic, the dramatic, the lyric, the 
narrative. Of the epic, "M'Fingal" is the great represen- 
tative; yet it has merely the manner and not the spirit of 
the true epic. The drama, too, found several writers. 
In 1775, "The Group," a dramatic work by a lady of 



I. Save in one instance mentioned above: his poem on the 
heroes at Eutaw Springs; see p. I94» below. 



26 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Massachusetts, Mercy Otis Warren, amused the rebel 
portion of the populace to the discomfiture of those who 
still saw no good reason for the great quarrel. And Hugh 
Henry Brackenridge wrote his impressions of Bunker Hill 
and of the death of General Montgomery in the same 
form. They are of little worth apart from the historic 
interest. Freneau himself vv^as no playwright if he be 
judged by the fragment quoted in Chapter X^ and entitled 
''The Spy," a work surely not an example of great dra- 
matic power. The long narrative poem was not the least 
that the period produced. "The British Prison Ship" by 
Freneau is far and away the superior of all others of its 
type and for a certain strength and the evident feeling of 
its author, it is not of the worst of its class. All of these 
— the epic, the dramatic, the narrative — may be said to 
be without especial distinction except as they are satirical 
and usually unduly long. In satire, at least, the revolu- 
tionary bards, loyalist and patriot alike, attained some- 
thing akin to eminence, using the instrument of invective 
and bitterest epithet with no unpracticed hand. 

To the lyric we must look, however, for the more truly 
spontaneous verse of the time. It was the ballad writers 
who wrote the lines that immediately inspired many a 
camp-fire circle. It was their songs — short, pithy, pointed 
flings at the enemy — not always good-tempered, often 
coarse, even vulgar, frequently humorous, interesting 
and appealing — it was these surely that helped the caust 
of king or congress. In stanza forms — length, metre, 
rhyme, etc. — no end of variety may be discovered, much 



I. See pp. 177, ff. 



Introductory 27 

j:reater indeed than in the longer forms of verse which in 
most cases merely multiplied the heroic couplet. Examples 
are not wanting of wretched rhyming and metre; indeed, 
at times one is tempted to believe that for ingenuity in the 
making thereof the old bards should be rated high. To 
say that they used no models would be to speak against the 
facts. Not only in ballad, but in all the other forms of 
verse as well, we find indubitable evidence of the influence 
of the poets of the age of the Restoration and Queen 
Anne. And this is not to imply that the poets of the 
Revolution wholly lacked originality but rather to state 
that in form at least they rarely reached beyond the classic 
model of the Augustans however much one may find of 
vigor in forceful phrase or stinging epithet, or discern 
virility of thought or certainty of feeling in the mind and 
heart of the bard who sought to express it. 

A study of the verse of the period of the American 
Revolution must surely evidence the fact that judged by 
literary standards solely it is decidedly reading for the 
student alone whereas from an historical viewpoint there 
can be little doubt of its informing quality and human 
interest. While it established hardly a name in our poetic 
annals, it was, as we shall see, not without its mission 
nor unconscious of its worth, nor ineffective in a time of 
mingled doubt, assurance and national tension. 



PART I 
THE PERIOD OF CONTROVERSY 



CHAPTER II 

THE BATTLE OF WORDS 

Character of the revolt — not isolated fact but deep-rooted 
— the colonist's environment and inheritance — The new 
King, George III, and his purposes — Parliamentary meas- 
ures — their sponsors and their effect — Gradual change of 
sentiment from loyalty to revolt — "Dialogue and Ode on 
the Death of George 11" — "On the Accession of His 
present gracious Majesty" — The Stamp Act and attend- 
ant circumstances — Governor Bernard's speech — Loyal- 
ists and Patriots. Indications of deeper meaning — Thomas 
Jefferson's view — John Dickinson — sketch of his life — 
his "Liberty Song" 1768 — A British bishop's sermon — 
Colonial women and their aid. 

IT were, perhaps, a truism to assert that, like all move- 
ments grave in character, the revolt of the thirteen 
British colonies in America was far from being an 
isolated fact but rather the result of conditions and ex- 
periences, deep-rooted and inevitable. The Englishman 
across the seas in the new world lived through the seven- 
teenth and eighteenth centuries in a social and political 
environment at once derived from his Anglo-Saxon fore- 
bears and developing in a way peculiar to itself. The 
colonist maintained his affection for the mother-land — 
her varied religious and social ideals, her institutions, 
political and commercial ; but the very nature of the chang- 

31 



32 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

ed circumstances compelled in time a fresh interpretation 
and a viewpoint thoroughly different from that of those 
who remained in the older home-land. 

For such a people progressing and expanding along lines 
hardly appreciated abroad, a wilful king, endeavoring to 
fashion the policies of the realm after the manner of his 
Stuart predecessors, found to his purpose encouraging 
response and ready aid in a parliament and a ministry 
dominated by narrow and short-sighted men. "For the 
first and last time since the accession of the House of 
Hanover," says Green, ^ "England saw a King who was 
resolved to play a part in English politics; and the part 
which George succeeded in playing was undoubtedly a 
memorable one. During the first ten years of his reign 
he managed to reduce government to a shadowy and to 
turn the loyalty of his subjects at home into disaffection. 
Before twenty years were over he had forced the Ameri- 
can colonies into revolt and independence, and brought 
England to what then seemed the brink of ruin." 

The laws of Parliament enacted a century earlier were 
being once more rigidly enforced in the sixties, at the 
close of hostilities with France. But such endeavor more 
strictly to enforce "time's outworn decrees" and thereby 
to restrict the growing colonial trade in favor of home- 
markets was now well-nigh impossible of enduring success 
and merely provocative of discord and promotive of the 
spirit of union which must lead eventually to separation. 
Circumstances and ideas had changed materially during 
the early decades of the eighteenth century. The colonists 
were conditioned by affairs present and urgent, over which 



I. "History of English People," IV, 200-1. 



The Battle of Words 33 

they themselves could have in the long run little if any 
control. Their commerce had been increasing markedly 
and the fulfilment of their consequent needs must be 
unhampered by taxes or regulations made by those over- 
sea who could not be intimate with the state of colonial 
affairs, nor heartily sympathetic with colonial idealsJ 
Hence, though by many unconsciously felt and appreciated 
at the time, the deep-seated cause of the quarrel is now 
clearly apparent and with it what finally must have been 
the only adequate means of its settlement. Nothing, how- 
ever, seems clearer through all the years up to the call-to- 
arms than the earnest and sincere desire on the part of the 
colonists to have their viewpoint understood, their griev- 
ances heard and a satisfying reconciliation effected. 

The British ministry under the leadership of such men 
as Grenville, Townshend and North, notwithstanding 
appeal after appeal, continued blindly to steer in the face 
of the storm. The stamp tax must be passed even though 
common-sense itself protest, and then with its repeal a 
year later, must the declaration still be made of the un- 
diminished sovereignty of the crown as represented in 
Parliament over the colonies, not less in the matter of 
taxation than in all others.^ And here it must be re- 



1. "The measures of repression, in any view, deserve the 
censure which has been passed on them. They were pas- 
sionate, indiscriminate, and insulting; bolts of blind wrath 
launched across the Atlantic by men imperfectly informed as 
to the situation and ignorant of the character of the people, 
as transoceanic rulers must always be." Goldwin Smith : 
"The United States : An Outline of Political History," p. 83. 

2. "The present dispute is, what the rights of the crown 
and parliament are with respect to America, and what they 
are not . . ." Francis Hopkinson in "A Letter to Lord Howe," 
December, 1776; in "Miscellaneous Essays and Ocoasional 
Writings," I, 123. 



34 T^he Spirit of the American Revolution 

membered, moreover, that the colonist felt disinclined to 
admit the power to tax him without his consent as ex- 
pressed by a representative duly commissioned to speak and 
act in his behalf. But the very idea of such direct rep- 
resentation had not formed itself as yet In the British 
mind. There wTre In Parliament those returned again 
and again from boroughs all but uninhabited; yet there 
was none for the growing centres of urban population 
created so largely through changing conditions of laboi 
and production. It was therefore quite to be expected 
that the slogan — "taxation without representation is 
tyranny" — would fall with but little effect on British ears. 
It will be interesting and illuminating as well to note 
first, however, the gradual change of sentiment toward 
the home government and Its representative, the crown, 
and as the years pass by to see this sentiment crystallize in- 
to opposition, hardly alive in the hearts of some, passive and 
quiescent in others, active and aggressive in a few. In 
the years 1760 to 1764, we discover several examples in 
verse of a truly loyal tenor. One, for example. Is a formal 
exercise said to have been "performed at the Public Com- 
mencement In the College of Philadelphia, May 23, 
1 761." It is a dialogue and ode on the death of George 
II, "His late gracious Majesty," and Is, in larger part, a 
work^ by Francis Hopklnson, later a signer of the Decla- 
ration of Independence. Three stanzas of the ode — there 
are four in all — are the following: 

The glorious sun, Britannia's king. 
Withdraws his golden light; 



I. "Miscellaneous Essays and Occasional Writings"; III, 
11-82. 



The Battle of Words 35 

His setting ray 
Glides swift away, 
And yields to conq'ring night. 

Far o'er the wild and wat'ry waste, 
Hear the loud cannons roar; 

'Till winds convey 

The sounds away. 
That die along the shore. 

But, lo! his sainted soul ascends 
High thro' the ethereal road; 

And Briton's sighs 

Like incense rise, 
To waft him to his God. 

Another piece of verse of the same year, written in 
Latin, is dedicated by the ''college at Cambridge," to the 
young monarch, George HL The following year the 
college of Philadelphia again echoed the note of loyalty 
in a work, *'On the ascension of His present gracious 
Majesty." This, too, is by Hopkinson^ though in part 
by the Rev. Mr. Duche, a Philadelphia clergyman, and 
consists of a dialogue and ode. It is especially interesting 
in the light of future events.^ Lorenzo, one of the char- 



1. "Miscellaneous Essays and Occasional Writings"; III, 
83-88. 

2. Hopkinson could write, fifteen years later, "A Political 
Catechism," in which one question is: "What are the striking 
outlines of the king of England's character?" and its answer: 
"Injustice, obstinacy, and folly. He is unjust, because he 
endeavors to get by force what is denied him by the laws of 
the realm over which he presides, and in direct violation of his 
coronation oath : he is obstinate, because he refuses to hear 
the humble petitions of an oppressed people: and his folly 
is conspicuous in quarreling with the Americans who loved and 
honoured him — who were the faithful and zealous contributors 



36 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

acters in the dialogue, thus exclaims: 

Thrice happy monarch! skill'd in ev'ry art 
To win a nation's smile, and fix their love. 
Thy youthful blossoms are the earnests sure 
Of future glories to thy native land, 
Hence, in the mighty rolls of British fame. 
Thy reign shall shine distinguish'd mid the rest, 
By deeds of valour, piety, and love. 

The ode (by Hopkinson) is several stanzas long with 
a chorus, of which the following will suffice: 

Bright ascending to the skies. 

See Britannia's glory rise! 

Cease your sorrows, cease your fears. 

Night recedes and day appears; 

Another George majestic fills her throne, 

And glad Britannia calls him all her own. 

Chorus. 

Let the tuneful chorus join. 
And high their voices raise. 
To celebrate in notes divine, 
The youthful monarch's praise. 

Closing we hear, with chorus following: 

Hail! Britain, hail! these golden days; 

Illustrious shalt thou shine; 

For George shall gain immortal praise, 



to the support of the crown and dignity, and a never failing 
and increasing source of wealth to him, and to the merchants 
and manufacturers of his country." "Miscellaneous Essays 
and Occasional Writings," i, 119. 



The Battle of fiords 37 

And Britain, George, is thine. 

To distant times he shall extend his name, 

And give thy glories to a deathless fame. 

Certainly, before 1765 there was at least no great dis- 
turbance in the family circle, if the bards be taken as our 
guide. 

Within this year of the Stamp Act, however, we note a 
decided change on the part of many or at least we discover 
a beginning made in the sowing of the seeds of discord. 
The verse of that year and the year following gives ample 
evidence of the new status of affairs. The word "oppres- 
sion" is found as a title-word to several pieces published. 
A single title of a work that appeared in New Haven 
will serve to indicate the spirit of resistance and to give 
an earnest of what will follow: "A Collection of Verses. 
Applied to November i, 1765, etc., including a prediction 
that the S — p A — t shall not take place in North America. 
Also a poetical Dream Concerning Stamped Papers." 
Next year and the one after saw other sentiments ex- 
pressed upon the "joyful news to America . . . expressive 
of our more than ordinary joy, on the repeal of the Stamp 
Act." 

A reading of the newspapers and pamphlets of the day, 
however casual the perusal, tends to reveal the temper of 
the American mind and to discover the sympathy that is 
born of like-mindedness.^ We learn from "The New 



I. "Of the thirty-seven newspapers which were published 
in the colonies, in April, 1775, . . . seven or eight were de- 
voted to the interest of the crown, and twenty-three were de- 
voted to the service of the Whigs." See Sabine : "Biographi- 
cal Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution," I, 49. 



38 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

York Mercury" how much liked were the stamps and the 
principle upon which their issue was based. Rumor being 
rife in the city that the hated stamps were to be stored in 
"William Castle," fear was entertained as to their safety. 
"'Tis said those detestable stamps are to be lodg'd at the 
Castle, and there to remain till further Orders from 
Home, there being at present no Demand here for such 
superfluous commodity."^ 

The stamp collector surely held no enviable office — 
the "Odious and detestable Office of Distributor of 
Stamps" as we read that it was called. In a piece of 
doggerel entitled, "A Parody," these lines appear in a 
colonial newspaper: 

And hence it was the voice of reason. 
However in their present temper, 
Mobs burn in effigy, the stamps.^ 

And we read elsewhere such words as the following 
from a reported speech of Governor Francis Bernard be- 
fore the General Assembly of Massachusetts Bay in the 
autumn of 1765: "I have called you together at this 
unusual Time, in Pursuance of the unanimous Advice of 
a very full council, that you may take into consideration 
the present State of the Province, and determine what is 
to be done at this critical and dangerous conjuncture. I 
need not recount to you the violences which have been 
committed in this Town, nor the Declarations which have 
been made and still subsist, that the Act of Parliament 
for granting Stamp-Duties in the British Colonies shall 



1. Under date, September 30, 1765. 

2. Ibid., September 23, 1765. 



The Battle of Words 39 

not be executed within the Province."^ The following 
month, we hear of an assurance being given "the Gentle- 
men of the Neighboring Provinces, That every Importer 
of European Goods in this City, have [has] agreed not 
to import any Goods from England, next Spring, unless 
the Sugar-Act and the Oppressive and Unconstitutional 
Stamp Act are repealed."- In the same utterance we 
read the ominous sentence: "I would not willingly 
aggravate the Dangers which are before you; I do not 
think it very easy to do it: This Province seems to me 
to be upon the Brink of a Precipice; and that it depends 
upon you to prevent its falling." 

The decade before Lexington and Concord proved to 
be a time of attack and counter-attack on the part of the 
mother-land and her colonies; vituperation, insult and 
reproach alike on one side as on the other are reported 
in the pages of the chronicles of the period. But it would 
be a mistake to assume that the people of America were all 
of one mind on the dominant question of the day. On 
the contrary, there were those, Loyalists or Tories as they 
were termed, who upheld the hands of the British ministry 
and their king; who underwent trouble, fear, personal 
sacrifice even to bodily injury in their championship of 
the royal cause and who stoutly maintained that the 
issues were hastening to conflict through a coterie of 
mere politicians.^ Nor were these silent while their 
fellow-Americans were singing the songs of patriotism. 



1. "New York Mercury," October 7, 1765. 

2. Ibid., November 4, 1765. 

3. See Tyler: "Literary History of the American Revolu- 
tion,"' Vol. I, Chap. I. 



40 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

They, too, from one point of view were patriots and their 
songs were the songs of patriotism, indeed in a sense, the 
only true songs thereof while those of the patriots, so- 
called, were to these loyal folk none other than the out- 
bursts of rebels and traitors. It is not our purpose to 
dwell at length upon the Tory effusions, but it would be 
remiss not to quote them occasionally in order to put more 
clearly the pro-American cause and to hint by contrast, 
the edge of bitterness and the keenness of rival hopes. 

Every phase of the questions of the hour appears to have 
inspired some one to embalm its memory in verse. We 
gain in reading it an insight into the feelings and the deep 
concern with which the issues were met and discussed ; 
we discern in the mere quantity, if not in the quality of 
the lines which the versifiers put forth, something of 
the spirit that moved men in a time that truly "tried 
men's souls."^ 

It is often asserted that in the beginning the feeling 
in the American colonies did not tend toward independ- 
ence but rather toward a better understanding with the 
mother-country as to their rights and a just recognition 
thereof. However true this may be in general, and 
doubtless it is quite near the truth, there nevertheless is 
not wanting an occasional hint that the misunderstand- 
ing had in it a greater depth of meaning. Thomas Jef- 
ferson himself, be it remembered, was not convinced in 
the earlier years of the wisdom of complete separation. 
We read his words to John Randolph as late even as No- 
vember, 1775: "Believe me, dear Sir, there is not in the 

I. See p. 121. 



The Battle of Words 4t 

British Empire a man who more cordially loves a union 
with Great Britain than I do, but by the God that 
made me, I wnll cease to exist, before I yield to a connec- 
tion on such terms as the British Parliament proposes; 
and in this I think I speak the sentiments of America."^ 
Under date of July, 1768, we find these lines written by 
John Dickinson- of Pennsylvania: 

Come join hand in hand, brave Americans all, 
And rouse your bold hearts at fair Liberty's call; 
No tj^rannous acts shall suppress your just claim, 
Or stain with dishonor America's name, 

In freedom we're born, and in freedom we'll live; 
Our purses are ready, 
Steady, Friends, steady, 
Not as slaves, but as freemen our money we'll give. 



1. Ford's edition, "Writings of Thomas Jefferson," I, 
493- Quoted also, in part, by Morse in "Thomas Jefferson" 
(American Statesman Series), p. 31. 

2. Author of "The Farmer's Letters" in "Pennsylvania 
Chronicle," 1767, in which he explains the political conditions 
then existing between England and America. Soldier, legisla- 
tor, publicist. "The story of Mr. Dickinson's life forms an im- 
portant part of the history of Pennsylvania. From the year 
1760 until his term of office as President of the Supreme Ex- 
ecutive Council expired, in 1783, Mr. Dickinson was probably 
the most conspicuous person in the service of the state. So, 
also, from the meeting of the Stamp Act Congress, in 1765, 
until his death, 1808, Mr. Dickinson was a prominent figure 
in our national history. He was the first to advocate resist- 
ance to the ministerial plan of taxation on constitutional 
grounds. For more than a year after the enforcement of the 
Boston Port Bill, according to Mr. Bancroft, and for a much 
longer period, in the opinion of his contemporaries, 'He con- 
trolled the counsels of the country.' He had the courage to 
maintain that the Declaration of Independence was inoppor- 
tune, and in the Convention which framed the constitution of 
the United States he took a leading part." Preface to "Life 
and Writings of John Dickinson," Vol. i, of "Memoirs of the 
Historical Society of Pennsylvania," vol. XHI, Phila., 1891, 



42 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Our worthy forefathers — let's give them a cheer — 
To climates unknown did courageously steer; 
Thro' oceans to deserts, for freedom they came, 
And, dying, bequeath'd us their freedom and fame. 

Their generous bosoms all dangers despis'd, 
So highly, so wisely, their birthrights they priz'd; 
We'll keep what they gave, we will piously keep. 
Nor frustrate their toils on the land or the deep. 

The tree, their own hands had to Liberty rear'd, 
They lived to behold growing strong and rever'd; 
With transport then cried, — "Now our wishes we gairi 
For our children shall gather the fruits of our pain." 

How sweet are the labors that freemen endure, 
That they shall enjoy all the profit, secure, — 
No more such sweet labors Americans know. 
If Britons shall reap what Americans sow. 

Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all. 
By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall; 
In so righteous a cause let us hope to succeed. 
For Heaven approves of each generous deed. 

All ages shall speak with amaze and applause. 
Of the courage we'll show in support of our laws; 
To die we can bear, — but to serve we disdain. 
For shame is to freemen more dreadful than pain. 

This bumper I crown for our sovereign's health. 
And this for Britannia's glory and wealth; 
That wealth and that glory immortal may be. 
If she is but just, and we are but free. 

In freedom we're born, and in freedom we'll live; 
Our purses are ready. 
Steady, Friends, steady, 
Not as slaves, but as freemen our money we'll give.^ 



I. Winsor in his "Narrative and Critical History," vol. 6, p. 
36, gives the mu«ic to which this "Liberty Song*' was sung. It 



The Battle of Words 43 

The growing division of feeling may be noted in the 
parodies that were often returned to such verse as the 
foregoing in the newspapers with Tory leaning. Not 
too great stress, of course, should be laid upon these out- 
pourings though they are none the less significant of ten- 
dencies and are of interest and worth when viewed in 
the light of future events. A line like the following: 

For in freedom we'll live, or like heroes we'll die,^ 

is not lightly to be passed over. 

In this connection it may be well to note an excerpt 
from a sermon delivered by the Bishop of St. Asaph's and 
reported in Rivington's "New York Gazette."^ After re- 
marking upon the conservative silence of the lord bishops 
on the great question at issue between the colonies and 
England, Dr. Shipley utters this prophecy: "Even in that 
future state of independence, which some amongst them 
ignorantly wish for, but which for their true interest can 
never be too long delayed ; the old and prudent will often 
look back on their present happiness with regret; and 
consider the peace and security, the state of visible im- 
provement, and brotherly equality which they enjoyed 
under the protection of their mother-country, as the 



is there stated that Dickinson was "assisted by Dr. Arthur 
Lee," that the poem was printed first in the "Pennsylvania 
Chronicle," of July 4, 1768, and that "sung to the tune of 
"Hearts of Oak," it "was made conspicuous in Boston by be- 
ing sung at Liberty Hall and the Greyhound Tavern in Au- 
gust, 1768," Winsor cites the remark in Edes and Gill's "Al- 
manac" (in which the verse was reprinted in 1770) to the ef- 
fect that it was "now much in vogue in North America." See 
Moore: "Songs and Ballads," pp. 36-40. 

1. In parody to Dickinson's poem of 1768. 

2. September 15, 1774. 



44 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

true golden age of America." 

Not only were the men of the period filled with pa- 
triotic fervor and determined in their opposition to what 
they deemed oppression and tyranny but the women as 
well were ardent in the cause. Self-sacrifice on the part 
of the one was met and shared by the other. Through 
the spoken and the written word were many requests seek- 
ing to enlist the sympathies of all women, — mothers, sis- 
ters, wives and wives-to-be, — in effectually resisting the 
attempts at taxation by giving up the use of cloth other 
than that of American weaving. And such a boycott was 
abundantly fruitful ; it was practical and almost imme- 
diate in its results. Later on,^ we shall see again how much 
the women of the Revolution went through in their heroic 
efforts to aid a cause that they, too, felt was just. Not 
infrequently did verse laud them and with the usual 
grandiloquence commend them for their patriotism and 
their zeal. 



I. See pp. 171, flf. 



CHAPTER III 
THE EARLY SEVENTIES 

Philip Freneau — "the poet of the Revolution' — his in- 
fluence — his life and early work — the colonial college and 
its spirit — Freneau s later years — "The Rising Glory of 
America" — Trumbull's "The Prospect'' — The trouble 
over tea — two poems — The Boston Port Act — its effect 
— Loyalist verse — The first Continental Congress — Pat- 
rick Henry and Thomas Jefferson — "A Summary View" 
— Rev. Samuel Seabury and his "farmer's letters" — Lex- 
ington and Concord — The second Continental Congress, 
May, 1775. 

THROUGHOUT the years of strife one poet in 
particular was exceedingly prolific. From all ac- 
counts, his work was widely popular and was read 
and enjoyed in even the remoter sections of the colonies. 
No pen could have been better appreciated than Philip 
Freneau's during the entire struggle for independence first, 
and afterwards during the formative years of our national 
life. Nor was ever pen more untiring in a cause espoused. 
Few, if any, of his earlier poems are memorable, however, 
nor do they approach in quality, even remotely, certain of 
their author's later work. 

Philip Morin Freneau, of Huguenot forebears, was 
born in New York City in 1752. He was fortunate 
enough to take his college course at Princeton, the "College 

45 



46 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

of New Jersey," as it was then called, while James Madi- 
son, future President of the United States, was in atten- 
dance there, and during the notable administration of 
John Witherspoon, a prince among men, a man marked 
in his generation, one of light and leading not alone in 
academic affairs but in other and varied activities of a 
useful and well-directed life. A clergyman of command- 
ing eloquence, Witherspoon was not only a college presi- 
dent but a statesman — a member of the Continental Con* 
gress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence as 
well. Under such influence and such a presence, college 
days grew to be stirring days, witnessing at times passion- 
ate outbreaks reflective of the state of the larger society 
beyond the campus. "The shadow of the coming struggle 
with Great Britain was already lengthening over the 
colonies and nowhere was its presence more manifest than 
in the colleges, always the most sensitive areas in times 
of tyranny and oppression.^ On August 6, 17 70, the 
senior class at Princeton voted unanimously to appear at 
commencement dressed in American manufactures."^ 
Philosophic turmoil rather than philosophic calm seems 
to have been increasingly pervasive. At Commencement, 
177 1, a poem, "The Rising Glory of America," joint work 
of two students, was recited by Hugh Henry Bracken- 
ridge^ though "it was surely Freneau who conceived the 



1. At William and Mary College of Virginia, founded 
1694, it is said that "At the outbreak of the struggle for inde- 
pendence there were seventy students. Thirty-seven of them 
left college and joined the continental army. Three professors 
also took arms for their country's cause." H. B. Adams : "The 
College of William and Mary." Bureau of Education : Circu- 
lar of Information, No. i, 1887. 

2. Pattee: I, p. XVI. 

3. See p. 62. 



The Early Seventies 47 

work and who gave it its strength and high literary 
value. "^ 

From the appeal to arms onward, Freneau published 
poetic broadsides in quick succession now aimed at the 
King, now at Parliament, again at British general or 
American loyalist — all his work surcharged with high 
emotion, relentless in spirit and bitterly vituperative. Be- 
fore he was thirty, Freneau took to the sea and mastered 
several ships to the West Indies and beyond. It was m 
1780 that, while sailijag south as a passenger, he was taken 
by the British and returned to New York with others to 
experience the torture and horror of a prison-ship and later 
the languid atmosphere of an infected hospital-ship lying 
off-shore in the East River. His vivid description of the 
days and nights which poor wretches spent in these rotten 
hulks will be discussed later.^ 

Freneau's life following the Peace of Paris does not 
properly concern us but for completeness' sake it may be 
briefly told. His was a long life-span — eighty years- 
spent in work varied in nature and earnest always. In 
post-bellum days he was editor of successive newspapers. 
His service in the state department under the first Secre- 
tary of State and in the interest of the rising Jeffersonian 
party has not been forgotten by historians of our political 
history though no comment thereon is necessary here. His 
fame, let it suffice to say, had been in eclipse for nearly a 
generation before his death in 1832. 

"The Rising Glory of America," the work mentioned 
above, speaks volumes as to its character; and grandilo- 



1. Pattee: I, p. XXI. May we not question "high"? 

2. Pp. 181, ff. 



48 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

quent, excessively strained at times and formal, though 
truly elevated in places are adjectives which fitly complete 
what the title fails to convey. It is a commencement 
piece with all the defect and merit of its kind. Yet, one 
is tempted to condone its deficiencies with the thought 
that, after all, as the writer heard Henry Van Dyke re- 
mark in a baccalaureate address, commencement-day en- 
thusiasm and the lofty ideals of youth are to be prized 
more highly than the too frequent pessimism exhibited by 
those grown older in years and presumably in wisdom. 

The poem (in its revised form) runs through nearly 
five hundred lines and is made up of observations vouch- 
safed by three characters, — Acasto, Leander, Eugenio. 
The Indians, the early discoverers, explorers and settlers, 
colonial wars, distinguished heroes like Wolfe and Brad- 
dock, the superiority of North over South America, to- 
gether with commerce, agriculture, science, religion, — all 
come in for appropriate phrases to be concluded with a 
picture of the present glory of the young republic and a 
vision of that which is to be. A few quotations will 
suggest the general spirit of the whole work. 

Leander opens the conversation with: 

No more of Memphis and her mighty kings, 
Of Alexandria, where the Ptolomles 
Taught golden commerce to unfurl her sails. 
And bid fair science smile: No more of Greece 
Where learning next her early visit paid, 
And spread her glories to illume the world ; 
No more of Athens, where she flourished, 
And saw her sons of mighty genius rise, 
Smooth flowing Plato, Socrates and him 
Who with resistless eloquence reviv'd 



The Early Seventies 49 

The spirit of Liberty, and shook the thrones 
Of Macedon and Persia's haughty king. 
No more of Rome, enlighten'd by her beams, 
Fresh kindling there the fire and eloquence, 
And poesy divine; imperial Rome! 
Whose wide dominion reach'd o'er half the globe; 
Whose eagle flew o'er Ganges to the East 
And in the West far to the British Isles. 
No more of Britain and her kings renown'd, 
Edward's and Henry's thunderbolts of war; 
Her chiefs victorious o'er the Gallic foe; 
Illustrious senators, immortal bards. 
And wise philosophers, of these no more. 
A Theme more new, tho' not less noble, claims 
Our ev'ry thought on this auspicious day; 
The rising glory of this western world, 
Where now the dawning light of science spreads 
Her orient ray, and wakes the muse's song; 
Where freedom holds her sacred standard high, 
And commerce rolls her golden tides profuse 
Of elegance and ev'ry joy of life. 

Acasto and Eugenio recount the glories of the period of 
discovery and exploration from Columbus down. After 
a time Eugenio waxes eloquent: 

'Tis true no human eye can penetrate 
The veil obscure, and in fair light disclos'd 
Behold the scenes of dark futurity; 
Yet if we reason from the course of things, 
And downward trace the vestiges of time. 
The mind prophetic grows and pierces far 
Thro' ages yet unborn. We saw the states 
In swift succession from the Assyrian 
To Macedon and Rome; to Britain thence 
Dominion drove her car, she stretch'd her reign 
O'er many isles, wide seas, and peopled lands. 



50 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Now in the west a continent appears; 
The sons of Boston, resolute and brave, 
The firm supporters of our injur'd rights. 
Shall lose their splendours in the brighter beams 
Of patriots fanci'd and heroes yet unborn. 

Then the poem soars on wings of characteristic biblical 
figure : 

And when a train of rolling years are past, 

(So sang the exil'd seer in Patmos isle) 

A new Jersusalem sent down from heav'n 

Shall grace our happy earth, perhaps this land, 

Whose ample bosom shall receive, though late, 

Myriads of saints, with their immortal king. 

To live and reign on earth a thousand years, 

Thence called Millennium. Paradise anew 

Shall flourish, by no second Adam lost. 

No dangerous tree with deadly fruit shall grow, 

No tempting serpent to allure the soul — 

From native innocence. — A Canaan here, 

Another Canaan shall excel the old, 

And from a fairer Pisgah's top be seen. 

No thistle here, nor thorn, nor briar shall spring, 

Earth's curse before: the lion and the lamb 

In natural friendship linked, shall browse the shrub. 

And timorous deer with softened tygers stray 

O'er mead, or lofty hill, or grassy plain. 

And again: 

This is thy praise,' America, thy Pow'r, 
Thou best of climes, by science visited. 
By freedom blest and richly stored with all, 
A newer world now opens to her view, 
She hastens onward to th' Americ shores 
And bids a scene of recent wonders rise. 



The Early Seventies 51 

New states, new empires and a line of kings, 
High rais'd in glory, cities, palaces, 
Fair domes on each long bay, sea, shore or stream, 
Circling the hills now rear their lofty heads. 

The glories of America's native beauty are then re- 
viewed and compared with scenes in other and in earlier 
lands : 

Far in the south I see a Babylon 
As once by Tigris or Euphrates stream, 
With blazing tow'rs and observatories 
Rising to heav'n; from thence astronomers 
With optic glass take nobler views of God 
In golden suns and shining worlds display'd 
Than the poor Chaldean with the naked eye. 



Hoarse Niagara's stream now roaring on 
Thro' woods and rocks and broken mountains torn, 
In days remote far from their ancient beds. 
By some great monarch taught a better course, 
Or cleared of cataracts shall flow beneath 
Unnumbr'd boats and merchandise and men. 

Leander speaks: 

And here fair freedom shall forever reign, 
I see a train, a glorious train appear. 
Of Patriots plac'd in equal fame with those 
Who nobly fell for Athens or for Rome. 
The luxuries of life. Hail, happy land. 
The seat of empire, the »abode of kings. 
The final stage where time shall introduce 
Renowned characters, and glorious works 
Of high invention and of wondrous art. 

And once more: 



52 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

. . . . I see, I see 
Freedom's established reign; cities, and men. 
Numerous as sands upon the ocean shore, 
And empires rising where the sun descends! — 
The Ohio soon shall glide by many a town 
Of note; and where the Mississippi stream. 
By forests shaded, now runs weeping on, 
Nations shall grow, and states not less to fame 
Than Greece and Rome of old ! — ^we, too, shall boast 
Our Scipios, Solons, Catos, sages, chiefs 
That in the lap of time yet dormant lie. 
Waiting the joyous hour of life and light. — 

Another work of about the same time is also worthy 
of comment and quotation here. "The Prospect of the 
Future Glory of America"^ by John Trumbull,^ a young 
Yale man, is a rather careful piece of verse of "the vi- 
sion type" and is, the author states, "the conclusion of an 
Oration, delivered at the public commencement at Yale 
College, September 12, 1770." America, as youthful pa- 
triotism pierces the veil and beholds her, is depicted in 
future glorious guise, not in her military and naval and 
commercial splendor only, but in her triumphs in the arts 
as well. She shall be, indeed : 

The first in letters, as the first in arms, 
Her bards shall — 

Ope heaven's glories to th' astonished eye. 
And bid their lays with lofty Milton vie; 



1. "Poetical Works," Hartford, 1820; II, 159. 

2. See pp. 83, flf. 



The Early Seventies 53 

Or wake from nature's themes the moral song, 

And shine with Pope, with Thompson and with Young.' 

Again : 

This land her Swift and Addison shall view, 
The former honours equall'd by the new; 
Here shall some Shakespear charm the rising age, 
And hold in magic chains the listening stage; 
A second Watts shall string the heavenly lyre, 
And other muses other bards inspire. 

No event of the earlier years of the revolutionary era 
seems to have served better to inspire the patriot muse 
than the famous "tea-party" of Boston in December, 
1773. The action of Parliament in taxing tea was fraught 
with consequences at once disastrous and humorous. Much 
verse appeared in print to be spread broadcast throughout 
the colonies. A single poem,^ consisting of eight qua- 
trains, will bespeak the feelings of the inhabitants of Bos- 
ton on the arrival oi the three tea-ships in their harbor. It 
is worth quoting in full: 

As near beauteous Boston lying, 

On the gently swelling flood 
Without jack or pennant flying. 

Three ill-fated tea-ships rode; 

Just as glorious Sol was setting. 

On the wharf a numerous crew, 
Sons of Freedom, fear forgetting, 

Suddenly appear'd in view. 



1. See p. 27, above. 

2. See Moore : "Songs and Ballads/* pp. 56-8 ; quoted from 
'The Pennsylvania Packet," 1774. 



54 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Arm'd with hammers, axes, chisels, 

Weapons new for warlike deed, 
Tow'rd the tax'd-tea-freighted vessels, 

They came boldly and with speed. 

O'er their heads in lofty mid-day. 
Three bright angel forms were seen. 

This was Hampden, that was Sidney, 
With fair Liberty between. 

''Soon," they cried, "your foes you'll banish. 

Soon the triumph will be won. 
Scarce the setting sun shall vanish 

Ere the glorious deed is done!" 

Quick as thought the ships were boarded. 
Hatches burst and chests displayed ; 

Axes, hammers, help afforded. 

What a crash that eve was made! 

Deep into the sea descended 

Cursed weed of China's coast; 
Thus at once our fears were ended! 

British rights shall ne'er be lost! 

Captains! once more hoist your streamers, 
Spread your sails and plough the wave; 

Tell your masters they were dreamers 
When they thought to cheat the brave. 

Another poem entitled, "Virginia Banishing Tea,"^ writ- 
ten in 1774 by a patriot Virginia woman whose name has 
not come down to us, will serve as a companion piece. We 
note the personal attack, the historical touch and the 
strained emotion familiar enough in the verse of later 
years. 



I. See Moore: "Songs and Ballads," pp. 59-61. 



The Early Seventies 55 

Begone, pernicious, baneful tea, 

With all Pandora's ills possessed. 
Hyson, no more beguiled by thee 

My noble sons shall be oppressed. 

To Britain fly, where gold enslaves, 
And venal men their birthright sell; 

Tell North and his bribed clan of knaves, 
Their bloody acts were made in hell. 

In Henry's reign those acts began, 
Which sacred rules of justice broke 

North now pursues the hellish plan. 
To fix on us his slavish yoke. 

But we oppose and will be free, 

This great good cause we will defend ; 

Nor bribe, nor Gage, nor North's decree, 
Shall make us "at his feet to bend." 

From Anglia's ancient sons we came; 

Those heroes who for freedom fought; 
In freedom's cause we'll march; their fame, 

By their example greatly taught. 

Our king we love, but North we hate. 

Nor will to him submission own; 
If death's our doom, we'll brave our fate, 

But pay allegiance to the throne. 

Then rouse, my sons! from slavery free 

Your suffering homes; from God's high wrath; 

Gird on your steel; give liberty 
To all who follow in our path. 

Determined now to put its power to the test and by 
lessons severe and ill-advised to teach the people of Amer- 



56 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

ica and of Massachusetts in particular where the seat of 
authority and dominion still remained, Parliament en- 
acted, with other measures, the Boston Port Bill, in 1774, 
closing the custom house at Boston and removing it to 
Salem. The intent, so evidently to crush the rising re- 
volt by shutting off all commercial enterprise in the cen- 
tre of disaffection, hardly hit the mark. Sympathy for 
Massachusetts became manifest and asserted itself on 
every side. The law proved a blessing in disguise. The 
spirit of union was quickened as it had not been before, 
animosities nursed from petty causes and ancient jeal- 
ousies grew less through the sullen feeling of common and 
bitter resentment. 

Still, Boston's plight, her ruined trade and uncertain 
future, must have told heavily upon the hearts of her sons. 
Trumbull portrays the conditions in a long poem, *'An 
Elegy on the Times" — sixty quatrains and more in length, 
"composed at Boston during the operation of the Port Bill, 
August, 1774." It is vivid enough in its portrayal of the 
city of yesterday and that of to-day. But it is far from 
being wholly despairing, holding out hope, indeed, to the 
people, stricken and depressed as they are, and discerning 
beyond their day of discomfiture, the desolation of the 
isle of Britain where: 

On her white cliff, the pillars once of fame, 
Her melancholy Genius sits to wail, 

Drops the fond tear, and o'er her latest shame, 
Bids dark Oblivion draw th' eternal veil. 

To set off against such verse as the above by patriot 
pens let us cite a rather brilliant play upon the original 



The Early Seventies 57 

intent of the motto, ''Unite or Die," depicted at the head 
of some American newspapers of the day, which, accom- 
panied by the figure of a snake cut into several pieces with 
the initials "N. E." (New England) on the head, came 
out in Rivington's loyal "New York Gazette," August 
25, 1774. Here it is: 

Ye Sons of Sedition, how comes it to pass 
That America's typ'd by a Snake- — in the grass? 
Don't you think 'tis a scandalous, saucy reflection. 
That merits the soundest, severest correction? 
New-England's the Head, too; — New-England's abus'd ; 
For the Head of the Serpent we know should be bruis'd ! 

In September, 1774, delegates assembled at Philadel- 
phia from several of the colonies to discuss the issues and 
the situation that had arisen and to devise, if possible, 
some means whereby the whole controversy might be 
satisfactorily settled. This meeting, the first of the con- 
tinental congresses, and an outgrowth of the idea of com- 
mittees of correspondence in the several colonies, did lit- 
tle beyond drawing up a petition to the home govern- 
ment and setting a date. May lOth of the following year, 
for another assembling of colonial representatives. But 
there were several significant sentences spoken at that 
first congress when Patrick Henry of Virginia arose and, 
as John Adams made record, exclaimed: "Government is 
dissolved. Fleets and armies and the present state of 
things show that government is dissolved. The distinc- 
tions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, 
and New Englanders, are no more. I am not a Virginian, 



58 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

but an American!"^ Had there been little other than 
mere oratory displayed in Carpenters' Hall, the congress 
assembled there might have passed into history less mem- 
orably than it did. But sober men were among the dele- 
gates, political thinkers and dreamers, too. Others with 
able minds were unable to be present. One of these, 
Thomas Jefferson, sent a paper entitled, "A Summary 
View of the Rights of British America. Set Forth in 
some Resolutions intended for the Inspection of the pres- 
ent Delegates of the People of Virginia now in conven- 
tion."^ An able state paper was this, setting forth in his- 
torical parallel the relationship, as Jefferson saw it, which 
subsisted between the colonies and the mother-land over- 
sea — a paper comparable to a degree with the more fa- 
mous Declaration itself, less than two years later. 

There were not wanting, how^ever, many who took is- 
sue with the deliberators at Philadelphia, even to doubt- 
ing the high quality of the intelligence they displayed. A 
pamphlet, issued in 1774, "By a Farmer," essayed to vent 
Tory views in some "Free Thoughts on the Proceedings 
of the Continental Congress, Held at Philadelphia, Sept. 
5, 1774, wherein their Errors are exhibited. Their Reason- 
ings Confuted, and the fatal Tendency of their Non-Im- 
portation, Non-Exportation, and Non-Consumption Mea- 
sures are laid open to the plainest Understandings and 



1. "Works of John x\dams," ed. by Charles F. Adams, Bos- 
ton, 1850; II, 365-402, passim; quoted also by Professor Hart 
in "American History Told by Contemporaries;" II, 434. An 
interesting and vivid account of the sessions of the first Conti- 
nental Congress as the future second President of the United 
States witnessed them. 

2. See "Writings of Thomas Jefferson," ed. by Ford. 



The Early Seventies 59 

The Only Means pointed out For Preserving and Securing 
our Present Happy Constitution . . ." The pamphlet was 
addressed ''to the Farmers, and Other Inhabitants of North 
America, In General, and to those of the Province of 
New York In Particular" and it bore on its title page the 
vigorous words: ''Hear Me, for I Will Speak!" The 
"farmer" came generally to be understood to be the Rev. 
Samuel Seabury^ of Connecticut, a loyalist clergyman who 
suffered much to hold true to his allegiance and who 
proved a keen and forceful protagonist in the wordy 
warfare of the times. Our purpose in the present study 
will not permit further detail as to the contents of the 
work of this aggressive divine; the title as given above 
must suffice, though a careful consideration of its argu- 
ment would reveal the fact that the loyalist's thought was 
by no means wanting in weight and certainly no less earn- 
est and sincere than that of the delegates upon resistance 
to their King determined. 

When the date set for the reconvening of the con- 
gress drew near petitions and speech-making seemed no 
longer to be availing, but action deliberate and firm, the 
single course to be pursued. At this second assembling in 
May, 1775, therefore, events having moved so rapidly, it 
was voted that an army be raised and that its command be 
entrusted to George Washington of Virginia. A month 
before the first sessions the British troopers stationed at 
Boston had been ordered to Concord to destroy the rebel 
stores and to seize the two leaders, John Hancock and 
Samuel Adams. At Lexington an encounter had taken 



I. Later, first bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
the United States of America. See p. 88. 



6o The Spirit of the American Revolution 

place, shots had been exchanged and American blood had 
been shed. At Concord bridge stubborn resistance had 
been met with and, while the soldiers of Britain had been 
able with difficulty to accomplish part of their appointed 
task, — destroying stores but not capturing the leaders — 
they returned a disappointed band, their loss in men con- 
siderable, their confidence in their strength somewhat 
dimmed. In a word, when the second Continental Con- 
gress convened at Philadelphia, Lexington and Concord 
had given the word — the war was on. 



CHAPTER IV 
THE CALL TO ARMS 

Beginnings about Boston — Bunker Hill — H. H. Brack- 
enridge — his life — his dramatic work on Bunker Hill — 
Warren, Lord Howe — Continued interest in Bunker 
Hill — Joel Barlow — "The Fisifhi of Columbus" — the 
author s life and literary work — "The Hartford Wits" 
— the battle scene from "The Vision" — Thomas 
Paine's "Liberty Tree" — his life and influence 
— Freneau's "A Political Litany" — his "American 
Liberty" — Poem on the coming of British commanders — 
Frejieaus "General Gage's Soliloquy" — his "The Mid- 
night Consultations" — his "To the A mericans" and "Gen- 
eral Gage's Confession" — Expedition to Canada — Death 
of Montgomery — Ann Eliza Bleecker's poem thereon — 
Barlow's picture — "The Pennsylvania March" and "High 
on the Banks of Delaware" 

THE conflict everyone knew must be carried on first 
about Boston, the feud centre in the years just 
past. Even before the commander-in-chief had 
taken over his heavy charge at Cambridge early in July, 
1775, another battle on the seventeenth of the preceding 
month had occurred — the patriots at Bunker Hill had 
suffered their great repulse but had learned through bit- 
ter experience with a determined foe the priceless lesson 
which defeat can teach, and had received the benefit of 
the discipline born of failure. 

61 



62 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

"At the time of the battle of Bunker's Hill," writes 
Hugh Henry Brackenridge,^ "I was master of an Acad- 
emy on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and wrote the 
following for an exercise to be performed by the youth 
of the Seminar>% and which was shortly after published." 
Brackenridge's work is in the dramatic form and after the 
familiar manner of many another of its time. It consists 
of five acts, partly in prose though for the most part in 
heroic verse, and essays the portrayal of the feelings of 
the leaders and the men in the ranks on either side during 
the memorable engagement. Warren and Putnam, Gage, 
Howe, Clinton and Burgoyne appear in the several 
scenes. We feel the pride of new-found strength in the 
April skirmishes of 1775, and the humiliation that must 
have lingered and rankled in the British bosom. Act H, 
Scene 3 presents a dialogue between militiamen in the 
American camp and is concerned with the cause leading to 
the call to arms. "It was not the sum of the tax, but the 
principle that induced us to resist. The tax on tea was 
but an entering wedge. Grant this and all follows. It is 
the beginning of usurpation that must be resisted."^ There 
is not a little fiery speech running through it all. In the 
third act^ we have a scene on the hill-top with Warren 



1. See p. 46, above. Hugh Henry Brackenridge was a na- 
tive of Scotland but early came to America, graduating at the 
College of New Jersey at Princeton in the class of 1771. His 
life was varied in occupation. At one period he was chaplain 
in the continental army; at another, editor of the "United 
States Magazine" at Philadelphia; again, we see him as a law- 
yer and later a Pennsylvania judge. He died in Philadelphia 
in 1816. Brackenridge was, of course, distinctly a minor bard 
whose work was yet effective in its purpose. 

2. "Gazette Publications"; Carlisle, 1806; p. 28Q. 

3. Ibid., Scene 3, p. 293. 



The Call to Arms 63 

stirring his men to action : 

To arms, my countrymen, for see the foe 

Comes forth to battle, and would seem to try 

Once more,^ their fortune in decisive war, 

Three thousand, 'gainst seven hundred, rang'd this day, 

Shall give the world an ample specimen, 

What strength, and daring confidence, the sound 

Of Liberty inspires. That Liberty, 

Which, not the thunder of Bellona's voice, 

With fleets, and armies, from the British Shore, 

Shall wrest from us. Our noble ancestors 

Out-brav'd the tempests of the hoary deep, 

And on this hill, uncultivate, and wild. 

Sought an asylum, from that despotic sway; 

A short asylum, for that envious power, 

With persecution dire, still follows us. 

At first, they deem'd our charters forfeited, 

Next, our just rights in government, abridg'd. 

Then, thrust in viceroys, and bashaws, to rule, 

With lawless sovereignty. 

Then, in memory, the speaker takes his hearers back to 
the Common of Boston, to the "massacre," as history has 
termed it, — that street-riot occasioned by the firing of the 
king's troops upon the not too peaceable citizenry: 

Much have we suffered from the licens'd rage 
Of brutal soldiery, in each fair town. 
The 5th of March, brave countrymen, that day 
When Boston's streets ran blood, remember 
And let the memory, to revenge, stir up 
The temper of your souls. 

He closes: 



I. Referring evidently to the previous engagements at Lex- 
ington and Concord. 



64 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Let every arm 
This day be active, in fair freedom's cause, 
And shower down, from the hill, like Heaven in wrath, 
Full store of lightning, and fierce iron hail, 
To blast the adversary. Let this ascent, 
Like burning Aetna or Vesuvius top. 
Be wrapt in flame — The word is LIBERTY, 
And Heaven smile on us, in so just a cause. 

Warren, fighting bravely, falls in the second scene of 
the fourth act. This scene is not unworthy of full quo- 
tation even though it possesses, of course, as do the others, 
the quality that separates it from verse which we call 
great. The dying patriot speaks, "mortally wounded" as 
he is, and ''falling on his right knee, covering his breast 
with his right hand, and supporting himself with his fire- 
lock in his left :" 

A deadly ball hath limited my life. 
And now to God, I offer up my soul. 
But oh, my countrymen, let not the cause. 
The sacred cause of liberty, with me 
Faint or expire. By the last parting breath 
And blood of this your fellow soldier slain. 
Be now adjur'd never to yield the right. 
The grand deposit of all-giving heaven. 
To man's free nature. 

Weep not for him who first espous'd the cause 
And wishing life, have met the enemy 
In fatal opposition. But rejoice, — 
For now I go to mingle with the dead, 
Great Brutus, Hampden, Sidney, and the rest. 
Of old or modern memory, who liv'd, 
A mound to tyrants, and strong hedge to kings; 
Bounding the inundation of their rage; 
Against the happiness and peace of man, 



The Call to Arms 65 

I see these heroes, where they walk serene, 
By crystal currents, on the vale of Heaven, 
High in full converse of immortal acts, 
Achiev'd for truth and innocence on earth. 

Illustrious group! They beckon me along, 
To ray my visage with immortal light, 
And bind the amarinth around my brow. 
I come, I come, ye first born of true fame; 
Fight on, my countrymen, Be FREE, be FREE! 

The final act makes vivid the last moments of the strug- 
gle for the possession of the hill-top, the British success 
and the rout of the Americans. Lord Pigot observes sadly : 

The day is ours, but with heart-piercing loss. 

Of soldiers slain, and gallant officers. 

Old Abercrombie, on the field lies dead. 

Pitcairn and Cherwin, in so battle slain. 

The gallant reg'ment of Welsh fusileers. 

To seventeen privates, is this day reduc'd. 

The grenadiers stand, thinly on the hill. 

Like the tall fir-trees on the blasted heath, 

Scorch'd by the autumnal burnings, which have rush'd, 

With wasting fire fierce through its leafy groves. 

Then Lord Howe,^ before the curtain falls: 

Ev'n in an enemy I honour worth. 
And valour eminent. 
Should ev'ry hill by the rebellious foe, 
So well defended, cost thus dear to us. 
Not the united forces of the world 
Could master them, and the proud rage subdue 
Of these Americans! 



I. Howe, says a recent writer, "though brave was torpid; 
probably he was not only torpid but half-hearted. As a mem- 
ber of parliament he had pledged himself to his constituents 



66 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

The poets of the Revolution seemed unwilling to let 
die the echoes from Bunker Hill but remained to the end 
enthusiastic over the patriots' early defeat, rather proud 
withal of the splendid courage they displayed. In 1787 
there appeared from the pen of Joel Barlow the fruit of 
years of patriotic thought and feeling in the poem entitled 
"The Vision of Columbus" — a long, cumbrous, formal 
work in nine cantos which the author some two decades 
later developed into a still more weighty volume, more 
ambitiously set forth under the title, "The Columbiad." 
Barlow with David Humphreys, Timothy Dwight and 
Lemuel Hopkins formed that little coterie of literary as- 
pirants known to fame as "The Hartford Wits" who 
plied their vocation or rather avocation not wholly to 
waste purposes but who seemed to their contemporaries 
brighter with promise of enduring glory and honor than 
later generations of the country they served have deemed 
them worthy to receive. A graduate of Yale, Barlow 
late in the war turned to preaching, attaching himself and 
his eloquence to the American army and becoming inti- 
mate with the highest officers in the service, even Wash- 
ington himself. Subsequently, the poet led a career of 
varied pursuits but chiefly, as Professor Tyler^ has pointed 
out, in the polishing, expanding and publishing of his 
masterpiece, the child of his earlier and fondest literary 
fancy. "The Vision of Columbus" essays to present to 
the downcast and ill-used discoverer of America as he 



not to fight against the Americans, and he must have been 
fettered by that pledge."' Goldwin Smith : "The United States : 
An Outline of Political History," 1492- 1871 ; p. 85. 
I. "Three Men of Letters," p. 40. 



The Call to Arms 67 

gazes from the Mount of Vision whither he has been led 
by the spirit of things as they will be, all the grandeur of 
coming years and the glory that shall beam upon the 
shores he has discovered and radiate therefrom to lands 
afar. Canto V is devoted to the vision of North Ameri- 
ca in particular. Earlier history having been revealed, 
Columbus peers through the smoke of flame and battle, as 
the poet tells us, to behold the scene on Bunker Hill : 



Now, where the sheeted flames thro' Charlestown roar. 
And lashing waves hiss round the burning shore. 
Thro' the deep-folding fires, a neighbouring height 
Thunders o'er all and seems a field of fight. 
Like shadowy phantoms in an evening grove, 
To the dark strife the closing squadrons wave; 
They join, they break, they thicken thro' the air. 
And blazing batteries burst along the war; 
Now, wrapp'd in reddening smoke, now dim in sight, 
They sweep the hill or wing the downward flight; 
Here, wheel'd and wedg'd, whole ranks together turn, 
And the long lightnings from their pieces burn; 
There scattering flashes light the scanty train. 
And broken squadrons tread the moving plain, 
Britons in fresh battalions rise the height. 
And, with increasing vollies, give the fight. 
Till, smear'd with clouds of dust, and bath'd in gore. 
As growing foes their raised artillery pour, 
Columbia's hosts move o'er the fields afar, 
And save, by slow retreat, the sad remains of war. 
There strides bold Putnam, and from all the plains 
Calls the tired host, the tardy rear sustains. 
And, mid the whizzing deaths that fill the air, 
Waves back his sword and dares the following war. 

Through falling fires, Columbus sees remain 
Half of each host in heaps promiscuous slain; 



68 The Spirit of the Ainerican Revolution 

While dying crowds the lingering life-blood pour, 
And slippery steeps are trod with prints of gore. 
There, hapless Warren! thy cold earth was seen. 
There spring thy laurels in immortal green ; 
Dearest of Chiefs, that ever press'd the plain. 
In Freedom's cause, with early honours, slain, 
Still dear in death, as when in fight you moved. 
By hosts applauded, and by Heaven approved; 
The faithful Muse shall tell the world thy fame. 
And unborn realms resound the immortal name. 

There appeared in the "Pennsylvania Magazine," in 
July, 1775, a rather smooth and even poem by Thomas 
Paine, entitled "Liberty Tree," and running through four 
eight-line stanzas. It is somewhat above the average 
verse of its day and merits quotation in full for its own 
sake not less than for the interest associated with the 
name of its author. 

In a chariot of light from the regions of day, 

The Goddess of Liberty came; 
Ten thousand celestials directed the way. 

And hither conducted the dame. 
A fair budding branch from the gardens above, 

Where the millions with millions agree. 
She brought in her hand as a pledge of his love, 

And the plant she named Liberty Tree. 

The celestial exotic struck deep in the ground. 

Like a native it flourish'd and bore; 
The fame of its fruit drew the nations around. 

To seek out his peaceable shore. 
Unmindful of names or distinctions they came. 

For freemen like brothers agree; 
With one spirit endued, they one friendship pursued. 

And their temple was Liberty Tree. 



The Call to Arms 69 

Beneath this fair tree, like the patriarchs of old, 

Their bread in contentment they ate 
Unvex'd with the troubles of silver and gold, 

The cares of the grand and the great. 
With timber and tar they Old England supply'd, 

And supported her pow'r on the sea; 
Her battles they fought, without getting a groat. 

For the honor of Liberty Tree. 

But hear, O ye swains, 'tis a tale most profane, 

How all the tyrannical powers. 
Kings, Commons and Lords, are uniting amain, 

To cut down this guardian of ours. 
From the east to the west blow the trumpet to arms. 

Thro' the land let the sound of it flee, 
Let the far and the near, all unite with a cheer. 

In defense of our Liberty Tree. 

The author of "Liberty Tree" was a native of England 
who, as a young man, emigrated to America in 1774 and 
almost immediately attracted attention far and wide by 
his throwing himself into the thick of the great debate, 
contributing in pamphlet and newspaper article not a lit- 
tle to the zeal of the patriot forces and anticipating much 
of the future course of events. In March, 1775, Paine's 
essay against slavery was issued in the "Pennsylvania 
Journal" at Philadelphia. It is a scathing criticism of 
an institution the establishment and development of which 
the countrymen of his adopted land were only too sorely 
to regret. Paine's series of essays on "The American 
Crisis"^ became famous throughout the colonies, their 
vivid and emotional qualities commending them to the 



I. See "Writings of Thomas Paine," ed. by M. D. Con- 
way, I, 170-380. 



70 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

heart no less than to the mind of many. In January, 
1776, Paine set forth with cogent plainness his reasons for 
believing in the ultimate separation from England, in his 
"Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs."^ 
Congress appointed him secretary to its committee on for- 
eign affairs the following year and he continued his writ- 
ing no less vigorously. Subsequent to the revolution in 
America, Paine went abroad seeking to aid the French in 
their later troublous times, suffering imprisonment and 
just escaping death itself. Returning to America, Paine 
settled at New Rochelle, New York, and there died in 
1809. A monument, recently erected, marks his last 
home. 

But to return to "the poet of the Revolution," Philip 
Freneau. "The Rising Glory of America," cited above, 
does not furnish the full galaxy of his qualities. Though 
we have here displayed his proneness to classical and bib- 
lical allusion and metaphor, we miss the bitterness, the 
vituperative outburst, the fierce, uncontrolled invective, 
the keen satire for which he stands in our literary annals 
with few equals and no superiors. His patriotism will 
remain unquestioned but we can hardly fully sympathize 
with his excess in its expression. His rancor against 
the king and the British ministry was particularly deep 
and ineradicable as witness these lines of "A Political Lit- 
any,"2 of August, 1775, written after the manner of the 
petitions in the litany of "The Book of Common Prayer." 

Libera Nos, Domine — Deliver us, O Lord, not only 
from British dependence, but also 



1. "Writings," pp. 84-101. See pp. 109-110, below. 

2. "Poems," I, 139-141. 



The Call to Arms 71 

From a junto that labor with absolute power, 
Whose schemes disappointed have made them look sour, 
From the lords of the council, who fight against freedom, 
Who still follow on where the devil. shall lead them. 

From the group at St. James's, who slight our petitions, 
And fools that are writing for further submission — 
From a nation whose manners are rough and severe. 
From scoundrels and rascals, — do keep us all clear. 

From pirates sent out by command of the king 
To murder and plunder, but never to swing. 
From Wallace and Greaves, and Vipers and Roses, 
Whom, if heaven pleases, we'll give bloody noses. 

From the valliant Dunmore, with his crew of banditti. 
Who plunder Virginians at Williamsburg city. 
From hot-headed Montague, mighty to swear. 
The little fat man with his pretty white hair. 

From bishops in Britain, who butchers are grown, 
From slaves that would die for a smile from the throne, 
From assemblies that vote against congress proceedings, 
(Who now see the fruit of their stupid misleadings.) 

From Tryon^ the mighty, who flies from our city. 
And swelled with importance disdains the committee: 
(But since he is pleased to proclaim us his foes. 
What the devil care we where the devil he goes.) 

From the caitifF, Lord North, who would bind us in 

chains, 
From a royal king Log, with his tooth-full of brains. 
Who dreams, and is certain (when taking a nap) 
He has conquered our lands, as they lay on his map. 



I. "No one else in King George's employment, from first to 
last, did so much injury to the cause of the master whom he 
served." Trevelyan : "The American Revolution," II, 240. 



^2 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

From a kingdom that bullies and hectors, and swears, 
We send up to heaven our wishes and prayers. 
That we, disunited, may freemen be still, 
And Britain go on — to be damned if she will. 

In this poem we note Freneau's intimate knowledge of 
the incidents taking place far and near, on the seas as well 
as on the land, even to the names, the doings and personal 
characteristics of British commanders and royal governors 
like Montague and Dunmore and Tryon whose depreda- 
tions were particularly harassing or were threatening the 
peace of the inhabitants from New England to Georgia. 

Freneau's "American Liberty, A Poem,"^ three hun- 
dred heroic couplets in length, was published about the 
middle of the year 1775 and exhibits, on the whole, some 
strength although in feeling it is strained and in style as 
usual grandiloquent. Of the Tories he writes: 

Tories or traitors, call them what you choose, 
Tories are rogues, and traitors imps broke loose. 

And of others: 

What moonstruck madness seized the brains of Gage? 
Laughs not the soul, when an imprison'd few 
Affect to pardon those they can't subdue? 

He becomes reckless and extreme: 

Too obstinately will'd to bow his ear 
To groaning thousands or petitions hear, 
Dare breaks all oaths that bind the just like fate. 
Oaths, that th' Arch-Devil would blush to violate. 



"Poems"; I, 150. 



The Call to Arms 73 

And foe to truth, both oaths and honour sell, 
To establish principles, the growth of hell — 

Yet Freneau rises in tone occasionally: 

O Congress fam'd, accept this humble lay, 
The little tribute that the muse can pay; 
On you depends Columbia's future fate, 
A free asylum or a wretched state. 
Fall'n on disastrous times we push our plea. 
Heard or not heard, and struggle to be free; 
Born to contend, our lives we place at stake, 
And grow immortal by the stand we make. 

See Washington New Albion's freedom owns, 
And moves to war with half Virginia's sons; 
Bold in the fight, whose actions might have aw'd 
A Roman Hero or a Grecian God. 

The poet pleads for immigration: 

O you, who, far from liberty detained, 

Wear out existence in some slavish land, 

Fly thence from tyrants, and their flatt'ring throng, 

And bring the fiery freeborn soul along. 

Let us close our quotations with a few lines which speak 
for themselves from near the beginning of the poem: 

Kind watchful power, on whose supreme command 
The fate of monarchs, empires, worlds depend. 
Grant, in a cause thy wisdom must approve, 
Undaunted valour kindled from above; 
Let not our souls descend to dastard fear, 
Be valour, prudence both united here; 
Now as of old thy mighty arm display; 
Relieve the opprest, and saving power convey. 

The British commanders sent to our shores seem to have 



74 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

been made the subject of many a poetic outburst. Their 
very coming was noted. In a poem,^ *'On the storm of 
thunder and lightning . . . the day^ the generals 
embarked for America," we read : 

The Chiefs embark, and clouds involve the skies, 

Storms sweep the seas, and blusterous winds arise; 

The Heav'ns themselves, red with uncommon ire. 

Their thunders hurl, and slash indignant fire. 

Oh thou! who rules the earth, and guides the flood, 

Have mercy on the innocent and good. 

Oh! spare the land, and let thy vengeance fall 

On those who dare whole nations to enthral ; 

Send thy own thunders on the guilty head, 

And, to appease thy wrath, strike the vile traitors dead. 

But, Oh! restrain the hand of civil war. 

And let thy favoured nations cease to jar; 

Establish firm the Americans' rights and laws. 

And may this land resound with their applause; 

Then shall our vows in all thy temples rise; 

And praise ascend in incense to the skies. 

Of all the commanders of Britain General Gage could 
least complain of lack of attention on the part of the 
bards. Freneau in 1775 published several bitter attacks 
on the British military establishment in general and on 
Gage^ in particular. One of these, "General Gage's so- 
liloquy,"* suggests the futility of the whole military es- 
tablishment and hints at the non-sympathetic attitude of 



1. Dunlap's "Pennsylvania Packet," June 26, I77S; signed 
Hamden. 

2. June i8th, 1775, as recorded in "Dunlap's." 

3. See also TrumiDuU's allusions to Gen, Gage in "M'Fin- 
gal," pp. 87-8, below. 

4. See "Poems": II, 152-57. 



The Call to Arms 75 

the general himself. Over one hundred lines, in heroic 
couplets, make up the poem which can be said to be hardly 
more than so many lines arranged after the similitude of 
real poetry. 

The general soliloquizes half-heartedly on his mission, 
half-doubting its reason and its outcome. He muses: 

As for myself — true — I was barn to fight 
As George commands, let him be wrong or right, 
But did I swear, I ask my heart again, 
To fight for Britons against Englishmen? 

As viceroy I, like modern monarchs, stay 
Safe in the town — let others guide the fray. 

He sees in vision a possible future: 

Should gracious heaven befriend our troops and fleet, 
And throw this vast dominion at my feet, 
How would Britannia echo with my fame! 
What endless honours would await my name! 
In every province should the traveller see 
Some trophy of my tedious victory — 
Hard by the lakes my sovereign lord would grant 
A rural empire to supply my want, 
A manor would but poorly serve my turn. 
The Lordship of a manor I would scorn! 
An ample kingdom round Ontario's lake, 
By heaven! should be the least reward I'd take. 
There might I reign, unrivalled and alone, 
An ocean and an empire of my own! 

Toward the close he is made to speak of the futility of 
it all: 

But hark the trumpet's clangor — hark — ah me! 
What means this march of Washington and Lee? 



76 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

When men like these such distant marches make, 
It shows they think their freedom lies at stake; 
When men like these defy my martial rule, 
Good heaven! it is no time tO' play the fool — 
Perhaps, they for their country's freedom, rise; 
North has, perhaps, deceived me w^ith his lies. 

And with these two couplets, the end: 

Ye souls of fire, who burn for chief command,* 
Come! take my place in this distracted land; 
To wars like these I bid a long good-night — 
Let North and George themselves such battles fight. 

In thought, "The Midnight Consultations"^ is closely 
similar and, like the other, is composed of heroic couplets, 
over one hundred and fifty in number. A traveler made 
invisible by a mantle furnished by the native Genius 
of North America visits General Gage's mansion in 
Boston, arriving at the time the Commander is hold- 
ing council with his aides. Listening until the meet- 
ing breaks up, the visitor returns, his mantle removed, to 
the provincial camp where an American soldier is holding 
forth in a perfervid, patriotic speech in which he expresses 
the hope which many continued to entertain that recon- 
ciliation might yet be effected: 

Long may Britannia rule our hearts again. 
Rule as she ruled in George the Second's reign, 
May ages hence her growing grandeur see, ^ 

And she be glorious — but ourselves as free! 



1. Gage's successor was Maj. Gen. Howe. See p. 65, ft., for 
note on Howe's attitude. 

2. "Poems": I, 158-82.' 



The Call to Arms 77 

A third effusion, "To the Americans,"^ appeared in Oc- 
tober of the same year and was occasioned by General 
Gage's proclamation that the provinces were in a state of 
rebellion and beyond the king's protection. It is in heroic 
couplets like the others but is much shorter, some forty- 
odd lines. It is marked by unrestrained speech, oppro- 
brious epithets, and exemplifies Freneau's genius in the 
selection and the use of the word that wounds. 

Rebels you are — the British champion cries — 

Truth, stand thou forth! — and tell the wretch, He lies! — 

Gage is called "base miscreant," "knave," and the fol- 
lowing sentiment is expressed: 

If to protest against a tyrant's laws, 

And arm for vengeance in a righteous cause. 

Be deemed Rebellion — 'tis a harmless thing. 

The fourth poem on Gage, entitled "General Gage's 
Confession,"^ was written on the occasion of Gage's recall 
by the British ministr)^ during the closing months of 1775 
and expresses Freneau's idea of what the common disgust 
at home must have been with his ill-success and failure to 
crush the rebels. It is in heroic couplets and runs 
along for over one hundred and fifty lines in which the re- 
tiring commander unbosoms himself of his thoughts and 
feelings. 

The year 1775 was marked by an unsuccessful but bril- 
liant attempt on the part of the Americans to secure by 



1. "Poems": I, 185-87. 

2. Ibid., I, 189-95. 



78 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

force the control of America north of the St. Lawrence. 
Benedict Arnold and Richard Montgomery led an expe- 
dition to Canada, the former to be severely wounded, the 
latter to lose his life, and the whole campaign to end in 
failure, leaving as its chief result the memory of gallantry 
and courage of a high order.^ We may catch a thrill of 
the glory even in defeat which seems to have attached to 
Montgomery's name from the following lines written 
some years later than the event. "The Elegy on the 
Death of General Montgomery"^ is clearly indicative In 
form at least of the literary model of the period, and It 
exhibits not a little of the straining after effect so charac- 
teristic of its time and kind. 

Melpomene, now strike a mournful string, 

Montgomery's fate assisting me to sing! 

Thou saw him fall upon the hostile plain 

Yet ting'd with blood that gush'd from Montcalm's veins, 

Where gallant Wolfe for conquest gave his breath, 

Where num'rous heroes met the angel Death. 

Ah ! while the loud reiterated roar 
Of cannon echoed on from shore to shore, 
Benigner Peace, retiring to the shade. 



1. See Codmon: "Arnold's Expedition to Quebec." Also p. 
173, below. 

2. Bleecker, Ann Eliza; "Posthumous Works" of, N. 
Y., 1793; pp. 226-8. Mrs. Bleecker (1752-1783) though born in 
New York City spent her mature years in a little village north 
of Albany. Burgoyne's invasion obliged the Bleeckers to flee 
but they returned after Saratoga. It is not ungracious to 
record the words of another who remarks that her poems 
"have no very marked characteristics ; they are occasionally 
sweet, generally mournful," but comments justly on the fact 
that they are worthy of note in that they were written _ in 
stirring times of personal peril and distress. See Caroline 
May's "Female Poets of America," p. 27. 



The Call to Arms 79 

/ 

Had ^ather'd laurel to adorn his head: 

The laurel yet shall grace his bust; but, oh! 

America must wear sad cypress now. 

Dauntless he led her armies to the war. 

Invulnerable was his soul to fear: 

When they explor'd their way o'er trackless snows, 

Where Life's warm tide thro' every channel froze, 

His eloquence made the chill'd bosom glow, 

And animated them to meet the foe: 

Nor flam'd his bright conspicuous flame alone; 

The softer virtues in his bosom shone; 

It bled with every soldier's recent wound; 

He rais'd the fallen vet'ran from the ground; 

He wip'd the eye of grief, it ceas'd to flow; 

His heart vibrated to each sound of woe; 

His heart too good his country to betray 

For splendid posts or mercenary pay, 

Too great to see a virtuous land opprest. 

Nor strive to have her injuries redress'd. 

'Tis not for him but for ourselves we grieve, 
Like him to die is better than to live. 

Joel Barlow seems to have been impressed, as were his 
contemporaries, with Montgomery's northern invasion. In 
his "Vision of Columbus,"^ he depicts the matter as fol- 
lows: 

With his dread host, Montgomery issues forth. 
And lights his passage thro' the dusky north; 
O'er streams and lakes his conquering banners play, 
Navies and forts, surrendering, mark his way; 
Thro' desert wilds, o'er rocks and fens, they go. 
And hills before them lose their crags in snow; 

I. Pp. 157-8. 



8o The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Unbounded toils they brave; when rise in sight 
Quebec's dread walls, and Wolfe's still dreary height; 
They climb the steep, he eyes the turrets round, 
With piked hosts and dark artillery crown'd; 
The daring onset points; and, high in air, 
O'er rocky ramparts leads the dreadful war. 

Through the wide streets, collecting from afar, 
The foes in shouting squadrons urged the War; 
The smoke convolv'd, the thunders rock'd around, 
And the brave hero prest the gory ground. 

Before taking up the most considerable single work that 
appeared during this period it may be well to quote a 
poem or two of interest; and first, the three stanzas and 
choruses of an early war ballad which came out in the 
"Pennsylvania Packet," August 7, 1775- It is entitled, 
"The Pennsylvania March," and was evidently intended 
for camp-life, for we are told that it was set "To the 
Tune of the Scots Song, 'I winna Marry ony Lad, but 
Sandy o'er the Lee.' " 

We are the troops that n'er did stoop 

To wretched slavery. 
Nor shall our seed, by our base deed, 

Despised vassals be. 
Freedom we will bequeath them, 

Or we will bravely die ; 
Our greatest foe, ere long shall know 

How much did Sandwich lie. 

Chorus. 

And all the world shall know, 

Americans are free; 
Nor slaves nor cowards will we prove, 

Great Britain soon shall see. 



The Call to Arms 8l 

We'll not give up our birthright, 

Our foes shall find us men : 
As good as they in any shape, 

The British troops shall ken; 
Huzza, brave boys, we'll beat them, 

On any hostile plain ; 
For freedom, wives, and children dear, 

The battle we'll maintain. 

Chorus. 

What? Can those British Tyrants think 

Our Fathers cross'd the main; 
And savage foes, and danger met, 

To be enslav'd by them? 
If so, they are mistaken, 

For we will rather die; 
And since they have become our foes. 

Their forces we defy. 

In October, 1775, was published in the same sheet as 
the above a rather careful, pleasing poem, fifteen quatrains 
in length, the quality of which will be apparent in the 
stanzas themselves without further comment: 

High on the banks of Delaware, 

Fair Liberty she stood ; 
And waving with her lovely hand, 

Cry'd, "Still thou roaring flood. 

"Be still ye winds, be still ye seas, 

"Let only zephyrs play;" 
Just as she spoke — they all obey'd; 

And thus the maid did say: 

"Welcome, my friends, from every land, 
"Where Freedom doth not reign; 



^ 






AX") 



C>t^ 



82 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

"Oh! hither fly, from ev*ry clime, 
"Sweet Liberty to gain." 

O Genius of our ancient times! 

Be thou our children's guide, 
"To arms! to arms!" They call to arms, 

And stalk in martial pride. 

"I will them guide, ye rev'rend fires! 

"Go to your tombs in peace; 
"The rage of proud usurping men, 

"Your sons shall yet repress. 

"Hold up your heads — ye weeping fair! 

"Their swords are on their thighs; 
"Smile yet again — ye lovely babes! 

"Their banner's in the skies. 

"I come, I come, to join your train; 

"Heaven's ministers I see; 
"Farewell, my friends, be not afraid! 

"Be virtuous and be free!" 

Heav'n's portals open'd as she soar'd, 
And angels thence did come. 

With heav'nly songs, and golden harps, 
The Goddess welcom'd home. 



CHAPTER V 

"xM'FINGAL" 

The three major poets of the Revolution differentiated 
— John Trumbull — his life — origin of "M'Fingal" — the 
work itself — Cantos I and II. The Town-Meeting — 
the debate between 'Squire M'Fingal and Honorius — 
Canto III — The Liberty Pole — the 'Squire's discomfiture 
— Canto IV — The Vision — the future patriot success re- 
vealed — Criticisms and general estimate of the work — iti 
popularity — close of the period of controversy. 

WITH Philip Freneau and Francis Hopkinson, Pro- 
fessor Tyler would name John Trumbull as 
worthy of special note among the patriot poets of 
the Revolution. Though hardly to the same degree all 
three betrayed in common that intensity of feeling toward 
king, ministry and parliament so marked throughout the 
period. Trumbull wrote several pieces in verse, patriotic 
and other, but whatever fame he merits will always be due 
him through his mock-epic, "M'Fingal." The poet was 
of a family distinguished in our history not only in public 
affairs but in the arts as well. A kinsman of his served 
conspicuously and with honor as governor of Connecticut 
during the war and another of his own name was one of 
our earlier painters and notable for several paintings of 
historical subjects now hanging on the walls of the ro- 
tunda of the national capitol. 

John Trumbull, the poet, was a native of Connecticut, 

83 



84 'The Spirit of the American Revolution 

born in April, 1750, and coming to manhood, therefore, 
during the trying days of controversy which we have been 
considering. Having been educated at Yale and having 
served as tutor at the same college, Trumbull studied law 
and was admitted to the bar, entering in 1773 the law of- 
fice of John Adams, later a signer of the Declaration of 
Independence and the second President of the United 
States. The poet's early years were thus spent amid as- 
sociations of both family and professional life which could 
but tend to instil within him at its source the fervor of the 
nascent patriotism of a new allegiance. 

Trumbull's interest in the welfare of the state did not 
cease with the close of the war. During the uncertain 
days following the laying down of arms, he bent his energy 
to soothing the spirits of his countrymen, ruffled as those 
spirits were at times in the aftermath of the great con- 
flict. He continued in public life for years as a legislator 
in his native commonwealth and as a judge thereof. Length 
of days was granted Judge Trumbull for he lived to see 
his country pass through several trying decades of its 
national life to the beginning of the epoch of internal 
struggle and self-consciousness of Jackson's day. 

"M'Fingal," its author's masterpiece, was foreshad- 
owed in a piece of verse which appeared in the "Connecti- 
cut Courant" and in which a proclamation by General 
Gage was burlesqued. "The Proclamation Versified was 
published, ... in August, 1775. So large a portion of it 
is re-produced in the first three cantos of M'Fingal, that 
the latter poem may be said to have grown directly out 
of the former. That it was the appearance of this bur- 
lesque which induced the author's friends to urge him to 



the composition of a longer and regularly constructed 
poem, in the same measure and a similar vein, is hardly 
doubtful."^ 

Trumbull himself tells us in the edition of his works 
that appeared in 1820,^ that ''M'Fingal" was written 
"merely with a political view," and "at the instigation of 
some leading members of the first Congress, who urged me 
to compose a satirical poem on the events of the campaign 
in the year, 1775. My design was to give, in a poetical 
manner, a general account of the American contest, with 
a particular description of the characters and manners of 
the times, interspersed with anecdotes which no history 
would probably record or display and, with as much im- 
partiality as possible, satirize the follies and extravagances 
of my countrymen, as well as of their enemies. I de- 
termined to describe every subject in the manner it struck 
my own imagination, and without confining myself to a 
perpetual effort at wit, drollery and humor, indulge every 
variety of manner, as my subject varied, and insert all 
the ridicule, satire, sense, sprightliness and elevation, of 
which I was master." 

The work was originally published anonymously at 
Philadelphia under the title, "M'Fingal: an Epic Poem 
or The Town-Meeting," and consisted of what later be- 
came the first tw^ cantos of the enlarged work of 1782. 
Cantos I and II deal with conditions and associations of 
the earlier years of the conflict. The third canto entitled, 
"The Liberty Pole," though of later date is likewise of 
that period in subject-matter and spirit. Canto IV sets 



1. "Origin of M'Fingal," p. 11, by J. H. Trumbull. 

2. "Poetical Works," II, 232. 



86 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

forth "The Vision" which the old Tory 'Squire is made to 
have and portrays the leading events and aspects of the last 
years of the war — a prophecy after the event, as it were. 
In length, Canto IV is by far the longest, having over a 
thousand lines while Canto III is shortest with about four 
hundred less — in all over thirty-two hundred lines in the 
iambic tetrameter couplet metre. Trumbull tells us^ that 
he meant that it should be "in every part ... a parody of 
the serious epic." Speaking of his hero and his work, the poet 
says^: "The scenes in which he is engaged, the town-meet- 
ing, the mobs, the liberty-pole, the secret cabal in the cel- 
lar, the operations of tarring and 'feathering, etc., were 
acted in almost every town." 

It will be well to give a rather full account of the 
story, in the words of the poet as far as possible — for only 
in this manner may an adequate appreciation of the scope 
of the work be suggested. 

From Boston, in his best array. 
Great Squire M'Fingal took his way. 
And, grac'd with ensigns of renown, 
Steer'd homewards to his native town. 

The old Tory was of "high descent" and "stor'd with 
intellectual riches," 

Skill'd was our 'Squire in making speeches. 
Where strength of brains united centers 
With strength of lungs surpassing Stentor's. 
But as some musquets so contrive it. 



1. "Poetical Works," 1820 edition, I, 232. 

2. Ibid., II, 232. 



''M'Fingar 87 

As oft to miss the mark they drive at, 
And tho' well aim'd to duck or plover, 
Bear wide and kick their owners over: 
So far'd our 'Squire, whose reas'ning toil 
Would often on himself recoil. 
And so much injur'd more his pride, 
The stronger arg'ments he apply'd; 

Yet at town-meetings ev'ry chief 
Pinn'd faith on great M'Fingal's sleeve, 
And as he motion'd all by rote, 
Rais'd sympathetic hands to vote. 

A vivid description follows of the town-meeting: 

Where truth and falsehood, wrong and right. 
Draw all their legions out to fight and where 
Such dialogues with earnest face 
Held never Balaam with his ass. 

Honorius, the patriot spokesman, opens fire with a ring- 
ing speech during which M'Fingal arrives. Britain's past 
glory and dominion are touched upon with this com- 
ment: 

Of all the pow'rs she once retained, 
Conceit and pride alone remain'd. 

Following comes a recital of the long series of abuses, 
somewhat in the manner of the Declaration itself, and 
following this the unavailing efforts toward peace made by 
the colonies. Fierce invective marks the harangue, par- 
ticularly toward General Gage and the loyalists. Hear 
Honorius on Gage: 

By Satan grac'd with full supplies. 
From all his magazine of lies. 



88 The Spirit of the American Revolution 



Yet meanest reptiles are most venomous, 
And simpletons most dang'rous enemies; 
Nor e'er could Gage by craft and prowess 
Have done a whit more mischief to us; 
Since he began th' unnat'ral war, 
The work his masters sent him for. 

The reception this speech received at the hands of the 
Tories is well described : 

Our 'Squire 
No longer could contain his ire; 
And rising 'midst applauding Tories, 
Thus vented wrath upon Honorius. 

The speech which follows is one of the best but is too 
long for full quotation. In an inimitable way the old 
'Squire argues for the "divine right of kings" by citing 
first several prominent Tory divines, Myles Cooper,^ Sam- 
uel Seabury,^ and others, who have quoted the Scriptures 
themselves in defense of the doctrine. 

As when the Jews a murm'ring race. 

By constant grumblings fell from grace, 

Heav'n taught them first to know their distance, 

By famine, slav'ry and Philistines; 

When these could no repentance bring. 

In wrath it sent them last, a king. 

So nineteen, 'tis believ'd, in twenty 

Of modern kings for plagues are sent you; 

Nor can your cavillers pretend, 

But that they answer well their end. 



1. See pp. 105, flf. 

2. See pp. 58-9. 



"M'Fingar 89 

After this spiritual support, M'Fingal marshals "earth- 
ly reas'ners, too," the scribblers "that swarm'd round Riv- 
ington in cluster." In the rather trivial repartee that fol- 
lows, Honorius flings this: 

"Ye perhaps in scripture spy 
A new commandment, 'Thou shalt lie;' 
And if't be soon (as who can tell?) 
There's no one sure ye keep so well." 

To which the 'Squire replies that "lying is, we know 

and teach, The highest privilege of speech" — a thesis 

which he proves to have been justified from David down 
the ages. Shortly, he waxes personal in tone: 

Your boasted patriotism is scarce, 
And country's love is but a farce; 
And after all the proof you bring. 
We Tories know there's no such thing. 
Our English writers of great fame 
Prove public virtue but a name. 

What has poster'ty done for us. 
That we, lest they their rights should lose, 
Should trust our necks to gripe of noose? 
And who believes you will not run? 
You're cowards, ev'ry mother's son; 
And should you ofiFer to deny, 
We've witnesses to prove it by. 

Honorius awaits the close of his opponent's speech, — 
hears of the power and determination of Britain and her 
endeavors to rouse Indians and slaves to massacre and in- 
surrection — and then replies, taking a vicious fling at Gage 
and his many proclamations: 



go The Spirit of the American Revolution 

While wearying out the Tories' patience, 
He spent his time in proclamations; 
While all his mighty noise and vapour 
Was used in wrangling upon paper; 
And boasted military fits 
Closed in the straining of his wits; 
While troops in Boston commons plac'd 
Laid nought but quires of paper waste; 
While strokes alternate stunn'd the nation, 
Protest, address and proclamation ; 
And speech met speech, fib clash'd with fib, 
And Gage still answer'd squib for squib. 
Tho' this not all his time was lost on ; 
He fortified the town of Boston; 
Built breastworks that might lend assistance 
To keep the patriots at a distance ; 
(For howsoe'er the rogues might scoff, 
He liked them best the farthest off) — 
Of mighty use and help to aid 
His courage, when he felt afraid; 
And whence right off in manly station, 
He'd boldly pop his proclamation, 
Our hearts must in our bosoms freeze 
At such heroic deeds as these. 

M'Fingal follows Honorius with an "apology" for 
General Gage and a recital of the commander's achieve- 
ments during his first year in power. 

"Vain, quoth the 'Squire, you'll find to sneer 
At Gage's first triumphant year; 
For Providence, dispos'd to teaze us. 
Can use what instruments it pleases. 

As Ass, in Balaam's sad disaster, 
Turn'd Orator, and sav'd his master, 
A Goose plac'd sentry on his station 



''M'Fingar 91 

Preserv'd old Rome from desolation; 

So Frogs croak'd Pharoah to repentance, 
And Lice revers'd the threat'ning sentence ; 
And heav'n can ruin you at pleasure, 
By our scorn'd Gage, as well as Caesar. 

The old 'Squire asks his hearers to consider how Gage 
went to Concord, 

To take your powder, stores and arms, 
And all your means of doing harms; 
As prudent folks take knives away, 
Lest children cut themselves at play. 

The future has nothing but triumphs for British arms, 
especially over those defenseless. The heavens themselves 
will be filled with signs and portents even 

As once they fought against old Sisera. 

For loyalists the future, too, is bright with promise — 
largess, titles, and mitres: 

Ev'n I perhaps, heav'n speed my claim, 
Shall fix a Sir before my name. 

Then, in reply: 

'Tis well, Honorius cried, your scheme 
Has painted out a pretty dream. 
We can't confute your second-sight; 
We shall be slaves and you a knight; 
These things must come; but I divine 
They'll come not in your day, or mine. 

This whole speech is a violent, exciting harangue: 



92 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

To arms, 
From provinces remote, afar, 
The sons of glory rouse to war. 
'Tis freedom calls ; th' enraptur'd found 
The Apalachian hills rebound: 
The Georgian shores her voice shall hear, 
And start from lethargies of fear. 
From the parch'd zone, w^ith glowing ray. 
Where pours the sun's intenser day. 
To shores where icy waters roll. 
And tremble to the dusky pole, 
Inspir'd by Freedom's heav'nly charms. 
United nations wake to arms — 
The star of conquest lights their way, 
And guides their vengeance on their prey — 
Yes, tho' tyrannic force oppose, 
Still shall they triumph o'er their foes. 
Till heav'n the happy land shall bless 
With safety, liberty and peace. 

Thirty-odd lines of denunciation for those that cowards 
be, bring the speech of Honorius to a close. 

A vivid description of the noise and confusion of tongues 
in the hall is given. Disorder is rampant when suddenly 
outside sounds are heard. All rush out. 

Our 'Squire M'Fingal straitway beckon'd 
The constable to stand his second, 
And sallied forth with aspect fierce 
The crowd assembled to disperse. 
The Moderator out of view 
Beneath a bench had lain perdue; 
Peep'd up his head to view the fray, 
Beheld the wranglers run away. 
And left alone with solemn face, 
Adjourn'd them without time or place. 



^'M'Fingal" 93 

The original "M'Fingal" here ends — Canto II of the 
later edition. 

Canto III — "The Liberty Pole" — is of all by far the 
most interesting and dramatic, if such a term may be used. 
It details the steps in the downfall of the redoubtable old 
Tory 'Squire who, having witnessed the formal dedication 
of the Liberty Pole, savagely attacks those who took part, 
in a long harangue of nearly two hundred and fifty lines. 

What mad brain 'd rebel gave commission, 
To raise this May-pole of sedition? 
Like Babel rear'd by bawling throngs. 
With like confusion too of tongues. 
To point at heav'n and summon down, 
The thunders of the British crown ? 
Say will this paltry pole secure 
Your forfeit heads from Gage's pow'r? 
Attack'd by heroes brave and crafty. 
Is this to stand your ark of safety? 

Ye dupes to ev'ry factious rogue, 

Or tavern-prating demagogue. 

Whose tongue but rings, with sound more full, 

On th' empty drumhead of his skull. 

Behold you know not what noisy fools 

Use you, worse simpletons, for tools. 

What an ignorant rabble you will have in high places, 
give liberty full power! 

While every dunce, that turns the plains 
Tho' bankrupt in estate and brains. 
By this new light transform'd to traitor, 
Forsakes his plow to turn dictator. 
Starts an haranguing chief of Whigs, 
And drags you by the ears, like pigs. 



94 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Congress, too, is criticised, its well-known impotency in 
executive matters being cleverly hit: 

For what's your congress, or its end? 
A power t' advise and recommend; 
To call for troops, adjust your quotas 
And yet no soul is bound to notice. 

After picturing, on the other hand, the British Constitu- 
tion and speaking disparagingly of the work already done 
by the patriots in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, 
M'Fingal closes with an appeal to his Tory partisans: 

'Tis done, fair Mercy shuts her door; 
And vengeance now shall sleep no more; 
Rise then, my friends, in terror rise, 
And wipe this scandal from the skies. 

His speech delivered, the 'Squire orders the riot-act read 
but the constable speaks just five words — "Our sov'reign 
Lord the King" — when he is stopped short by the clamor- 
ous rabble. Battle-royal ensues to be ended by the sug- 
gestion of single combat. M'Fingal joins issue with his 
AVhig adversary but his sword snaps short and he is left de- 
fenseless. His friends forsake him and he endeavors to 
flee but age is not on his side; he is seized, lifted aloft and 
"hung self-balanc'd on his center," dangling about the 
pole he detested. The time is ripe for recantation and he 
is let down only to renew his blustering speech-making, 
defying his tormentors who forthwith proceed to tar and 
feather him after a mock, improvised court has passed 
sentence. A trip around the town follows: 

Then on the two-wheel'd car of state. 
They rais'd our grand Duumvirate, 



''M'Fingar 95 

And as at Rome a like committee, 
That found an owl within their city, 
With solemn rites and sad processions, 
At ev'ry shrine perform'd lustrations; 
And lest infection should abound 
From prodigy with face so round. 
All Rome attends him thro' the street. 
In triumph to his country-seat; 
With like devotion all the choir 
Paraded round our feather'd 'Squire; 
In front the martial music comes, 
Of horns and fiddles, fifes and drums, 
With jingling sound of carriage bells. 
And treble creak of rusted wheels; 
Behind, the crowd in lengthen'd row, 
With grave procession closed the show, 
And at fit periods ev'ry throat 
Combin'd in universal shout. 
And hail'd great Liberty in chorus. 
Or bawl'd, Confusion to the Tories. 

Their burden set once more at the pole, the crowd be- 
take themselves to the tavern to end the days as such 
crowds do. The 'Squire with constable alone remains 
to ponder the strange happenings of the day : 

His visual nerve, well purg'd with tar, 
Saw all the coming scenes of war. 
Vainly the cry of vain hope he utters; 
Behold my doom! this feather'd omen 
Portends what dismal times are coming. 

In Canto IV — "The Vision" — we are in M'Fingal's 
cellar, *'The Tory Pandemonium." The 'Square is speak- 
ing — evil days are approaching, when 

Tar yet in embryo in the pine 

Shall run, on Tories' backs to shine. 



90 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Sadly, he murmurs: 

For me, before these fatal days 
I mean to fly th' accursed place. 
And follow omens, which of late 
Plave warn'd me of impending fate, 
Yet pass'd unnotic'd o'er my view, 
Till sad conviction proved them true ; 
As prophesies of best intent 
Are only heeded in th' event. 

In a vision of the night, an old Tory, one Malcolm, 
with noose about his neck, has warned the 'Squire to flee 
the wrath to come for the prophetic sight reveals the 
rebels victorious at Bemis's Heights, at Bennington, at 
Stony Point, and elsewhere. 

This done, he turn'd, and saw the tale 
Had dyed my trembling cheeks with pale; 
Then pitying in a milder vein 
Pursued the visionary strain. 

The victories of Britain shall be those occasioned by 
starvation, prisons, etc. Her commanders shall succeed 
each other — Howe, Clinton, Burgoyne, Cornwallis — to 
ill effect. 

'Twere vain to paint in vision'd show, 
The mighty nothings done by Howe; 
What towns he takes in mortal fray 
As stations, whence to run away. 

Event will follow hard upon event — Greene in the 
Carolinas at first; then, in Virginia. Finally, the warning 
of personal danger close at hand. Britain's decline and 



"MTingar 97 

America's rise are prefigured. But the meeting abruptly 
adjourns: 

For now the Whigs intell'gence found, 
Of Tories must'ring under ground, 
And with rude bangs and loud uproar, 
'Gan thunder furious at the door. 

All run to cover, the 'Squire himself making headway, 
literally and figuratively, through a convenient window, 
proceeding toward Boston and leaving his friends to enjoy 
whatever penalties and ignominy may be theirs. 

Such is "M'Fingal," most ambitious and most widely 
discussed of revolutionary works in verse. Criticism 
has ranged from the highest adulation of the genius dis- 
played in this masterpiece of Trumbull to an expression 
of good-natured contempt for its pretension to any liter- 
ary merit whatever. In Lossing's edition of the work^ 
Timothy Dwight of Yale, compatriot, "a brother poet,^ 
and a friend of the author," is quoted. "Without any im- 
partiality," asserts Dwight ". . . 'M'Fingal' is not inferior 
in wit and humor to 'Hudibras' ; and in every other respect 
superior. . . . The versification is far better, the poetry is in 
several instances in a good degree elegant, and in some 
even sublime." Lossing himself thinks that "of all the lit- 
erary productions of the day, having for its theme the char- 
acter and doings of the men and times of the Revolution, 
^it is] confessedly most deserving of immortality." So 
discriminating a critic as Professor Tyler is also enthu- 
siastic. "No literary production was ever a more genuine 



1. "M'Fingal : An Epic Poem," pp. 4, 5. 

2. See p. 66, on "The Hartford Wits." 



98 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

embodiment of the spirit and life of a people, in the midst 
of a stirring and world-famous conflict, than is 'M'Fin- 
gal' an embodiment of the spirit and life of the American 
people, in the midst of that stupendous conflict which 
formed our great epoch of national deliverance."^ Others 
have been far less laudatory. 

A careful reading of the poem will surely not reveal 
to the present day reader any lines conspicuously touching 
the heights sublime and candor will forbid his accepting 
an overstatement of its merits. Nevertheless, one can 
hardly peruse those four cantos of John Trumbull with 
their at times sparkling and not too bitter humor, their 
rugged characterization of men and events, their turgid 
raillery, without experiencing through the mere reading 
something of that feeling which doubtless in the day of 
its appearing caused men to be touched and moved by its 
vigor of word and phrase, its extravagant speechifying, 
its very "spread eagleism," a quality, indeed, in our literary 
work as a nation which lingered on even to, if not be- 
yond, the mid-years of the following century. At all 
events, "M'Fingal" was most popular, if we may judge 
by the fact, as one investigator^ does, "that there were 
more than thirty pirated impressions of the poem in pam- 
phlet and other forms" appearing in its time. 

We have reviewed the verse produced during the period 
of controversy and if our quotations have served their 
purpose they have revealed the essence of the feeling en- 



1. "Literary History of the American Revolution," II, 342. 

2. W. L. Stone, in "Ballads and Poems relating to the Bur- 
goyne Campaign," p. 15. 



''M'Fingar 99 

gendered in the hearts of the colonists, the doubts of some, 
the hopes of others, and have testified to the fact that 
while there were those in the colonies who could use the 
instrument of verse hardly with the touch of genius, there 
were yet not wanting many who attained a certain ef- 
fectiveness after all, with a somewhat facile manner not 
ill-adapted to the end toward which their verse was writ- 
ten. 



PART II 

FROM THE DECLARATION OF INDEPEND- 
ENCE TO THE TREATY OF ALLIANCE 



CHAPTER VI 

JULY 4TH, 1776 

Early military operations, 1 775-1 776 — Canada — Mass- 
achusetts, — evacuation of Boston by British — "A Military 
Song" — President Myles Cooper, Tory — his life — a poem 
in exile — ''Common Prayer for the Times'' — The Declar- 
ation of Independence — Thomas Paine — John Dickinson 
— Rev. Jonathan Odell — his life — an ode on the kings 
birthday — The Declaration published and read — Wash- 
ington's letter to the President of Congress — the bards — 
'On Independence" 

THROUGH the remainder of the year 1775 after 
July and through the earlier months of the follow- 
ing year, Washington planned to bide his time, en- 
deavoring patiently to drill and train his rude soldiery in- 
to an efficient fighting force. Not until spring when can- 
non and other aid had arrived from Canada, — brought 
back after the ill-starred expedition thither, — did the pa- 
triot commander deem it wise to take the offensive. In 
March, however, we find operations in force looking 
toward the seizure of Boston, with Washington en- 
trenched on Dorchester Heights overlooking and com- 
manding the city. 

Then the foe trembled at the well-known name; 
And raptur'd thousands to his standards came, 
His martial skill our rising armies form'd; 
103 



104 ^^^ Spirit of the American Revolution 

His patriot zeal their gen'rous bosom warm'd ; 
His voice inspired, his godlike presence led, 
The Britons saw, and from his presence fled.^ 

On the 17th of that month the British army under 
Howe evacuated Boston never to return and the colonial 
troops took possession. No event could have caused more 
general exultation. The city of so much feud and con- 
tention came at last under the complete influence of a new 
regime, and forever. 

Yet it remained gravely doubtful just what the next 
movement of the enemy would be. Brackenridge com- 
memorated the evacuation in "A Military Song, by the 
Army, of General Washington's Victorious entry into the 
town of Boston," of which these stanzas: 

Sons of valor, taste the glories 

Of celestial Liberty; 
Sing a triumph o'er the tories, 

Let the pulse of joy run high. 

Heaven hath this day foil'd the many 

Fallacies of George the King; 
Let the echo reach Britany, 

Bid her mountain summits ring. 

See yon navy swell the bosom, 

Of the late enraged sea; 
Where'er they go, we shall oppose them, 

Sons of valor must be free. 



I. "Address to the Armies of the United States of Ameri- 
ca," "written during the American Revolutionary War"; over 
two hundred and fifty couplets in length. "Poems by Col. 
David Humphreys, late Aid-de-Camp to His Excellency Gen- 
eral Washington," Philadelphia. 1789; p. 7- 



July 4th, lyyd 105 

Should they touch at fair Rhode Island, 

There to combat with the brave, 
Driven from each dale and highland, 

They shall plough the purple wave. 

Should they thence to fair Virginia, 

Send a squadron to Dunmore, 
Still with fear and ignominy, 

They shall quit the hostile shore. 

In New York state rejoin'd by Clinton, 
Should their standards mock the air, 

Many a surgeon shall put lint on 
Wounds of death received there. ^ 

War, fierce war, shall break their forces, 

Nerves of tory men shall fail, 
Seeing Howe with alter'd courses, 

Bending to the western gale.^ 

Still, in contrast to the above sentiments, w^e read in 
the stanzas of the Reverend Dr. Myles Cooper the deep 
lament over his exile from America which his devotion to 
the mother-country occasioned. Dr. Cooper was born 
in 1735 in England and educated at Oxford. Coming to 
America in the early sixties, he became associated on the 
loyalist side with other churchmen such as the Reverend 
Samuel Seaburj^^ In 1763 he succeeded the Reverend Dr. 
Samuel Johnson as president of King's College in New 
York City, which subsequently reorganized as Columbia 
College. It seems that in the darkness of a night in May, 
1775, the reverend president, none too comfortably clad, 
was obliged to make a hasty retirement from his home on 



1. See Moore: "Songs and Ballads," pp. 122-125, 

2. See p. 59. 



lo6 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

the college campus and to take a convenient ship for Eng- 
land. His well-known loyalist sympathies and views on 
the question of the hour appear to have caused a mob to 
assemble about his house, shortly compelling his flight. 
The youthful Alexander Hamilton, later of Washington's 
military staff, seems through his eloquent pleading to have 
had not a little to do with the presence of whatever grace 
attached to Dr. Cooper's departure.^ 

The poem following in part, was composed for the 
first anniversary of the King's College president's leave- 
taking. It is evidently a sincere expression of enlightened 
Tory feeling. There are sixteen stanzas in all; it begins: 

To thee, O God, by whom I live, 
The tribute of my soul to give 

On this eventful day. 
To thee, O God, my voice I raise; 
To thee address my grateful praise, 

And swell the duteous lay. 

Now has this orb increasing run 
Its annual circuit round the sun, 

Since when the heirs of strife, 
Led by the pale moon's midnight ray, 
And bent on mischief, urged their way, 

To seize my guiltless life. 

The reverend Tory here continued for seven stanzas, 
reciting the rude waking he had received, his escape, the 
mob's entering his rooms, and the search made for him 
through the college building. 

Meanwhile along the sounding shore, 
Where Hudson's waves incessant roar. 



I. Dr. Cooper remained abroad, dying in Edinburgh, 1785. 
See "A History of Columbia University, 1754- 1904." 



July 4th, 1776 107 

I work my weary way ; 
And skirt the windings of the tide, 
My faithful pupil by my side, 

Nor wish the approach of day. 

Reaching a ship convenient in the harbor, he goes 
aboard : 

Now, all composed, from danger far, 
I hear no more the din of war. 

Nor shudder at alarms ; 
But safely sink each night to rest, 
No malice rankling through my breast. 

In Freedom's fostering arms. 

Though stript of most the world admires, 
Yet, torn by few untamed desires, 

I rest in calm content; 
And humbly hope a gracious Lord 
Again those blessings will afford 

Which once his bounty lent. 

Yet still, for many a faithful friend, 
Shall, day by day, my vows ascend 

Thy dwelling, O my God! 
Who steady still in virtue's cause 
Despising faction's mimic laws. 

The paths of peace have trod. 

Nor yet, for friends alone — for all. 
Too prone to heed sedition's call. 

Hear me, indulgent Heav'n! 
O may they cast their arms away. 
To thee and George submission pay, 

Repent, and be forgiven! 

Another Tory piece throws light upon a different 
aspect of feeling among the loyalists. There were many 



lo8 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

like Dr. Cooper who believed that submission was due the 
king but there were those, too, who with clearer, surer in- 
sight seemed to appreciate more justly the deeper signifi- 
cance of the great controversy and to perceive that a new- 
nation must sooner or later arise on this side of the Atlan- 
tic, which either Should be independent of all allegiance 
to the mother-country or, while nominally dependent, 
should be virtually autonomous. The view of the latter 
of these two classes is well expressed in the following 
poem, "Common Prayer for the Times," which breathed 
a hope for the possible reunion : 

Since we are taught in Scripture word 

To pray for friends and foes; 
Then let us pray for George the Third, 

Who must be one of those. 

Heaven bless America, and Britain, 

May folly past suffice. 
Wherein they have each other smitten, 

Who ought to harmonize. 

Allied by blood, and interest too, 

Soon let them re unite. 
May Heaven tyrannic minds subdue. 

Haste, haste the pleasing sight. 

May ev'ry morn and ev'ning prayer 

Repeat this just petition, 
What thinking Christian can forbear 

Appris'd of our condition.^ 

After leaving Boston the British proceeded north to 
Halifax but soon transferred their operations to the Hud- 



r. See Moore: "Songs and Ballads"; p. 126. 



July 4th, iyy6 109 

son and prepared in due time to take New York. Great 
concern, however, had been felt in the general uncertainty 
as to their course, following the evacuation of Boston. 
Upon learning their objective Washington determined 
to throw his strength toward thwarting their pur- 
poses. But before the campaign on Long Island, the first 
storm centre in the military operations in New York and 
New Jersey, a great and decisive step had been taken by 
the Continental Congress in session at the State House of 
Philadelphia. Richard Henry Lee of Virginia in early 
June had introduced a resolution of momentous import 
declaring explicitly that "these united colonies are, and of 
right ought to be, free and independent states; that they 
are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown ; and 
that all political connection between them and the state 
of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." 
A committee of five, with Thomas Jefferson of Virginia 
as chairman, was appointed to draw up a formal paper 
embodying the idea of Lee's resolution. After long and 
heated discussion, the final vote on the draft prepared by 
the committee was taken and the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence adopted on the fourth of July. 

All through the earlier months of 1776 affairs had been 
gradually tending toward an official declaration of sep- 
aration from the parent state. In fact, there had been 
from the beginning certain leaders more ardent than oth- 
ers and more reckless, too, doubtless, who had seen what 
their fellows either did not or would not see to be the final 
issue in debate. Samuel Adams was of these earliest and 
most radical. In January, Thomas Paine had written his 
"Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs" and 



no The Spirit of the American Revolution 

said:^ ''Everything that is right or reasonable pleads for 
separation. The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of 
nature cries— 'TIS TIME TO PART. Even the dis- 
tance at which the Almighty hath placed England and 
America is a strong proof that the authority of the one 
over the other, was never the design of Heaven ... As to 
government matters, 'tis not in the power of Britain to 
do this continent justice: the business of it will soon be 
too weighty and intricate to be managed with any tolera- 
ble degree of convenience, by a power so distant from us, 
and so very ignorant of us ; for if they cannot conquer us, 
they cannot govern us. To be always running three or 
four thousand miles with a tale or petition, waiting four 
or five months for an answer, which, when obtained, re- 
quires five or six months to explain it in, will in a few 
years be looked upon as folly and childishness. There 
was a time when it was proper, and there is a proper time 
for it to cease." 

There were not wanting, though, statesmen of stout 
and sincere heart and strong mind during those famous 
sessions following the introduction of the resolution of 
June 7th, who were hard to dislodge from the position 
they had taken that the course debated was unwise and 
least assured of success. John Dickinson^ of Pennsyl- 
vania, a tower of strength in his day, felt certain that it 
was an "inopportune time which had been chosen for a 
final separation." In his "Vindication" of 1783, he ex- 
plains his stand on the great pronouncement and declares 
that it was one, not of denial of "the right and authority of 



1. Conway's "Writings of Thomas Paine," I, 89 and 92. 

2. See p. 41. 



July 4th, ITT 6 m 

Congress to make it," but rather merely of the wisdom of 
"the policy of the then making it."^ 

While the great Congress was in lively session, a Tory 
clerg)^man, the Reverend Dr. Jonathan Odell, greatest 
singer on the loj^al side, was composing the following not 
unworthy ode^ for the King's birthday, the fourth of 
June : 

O'er Britannia's happy Land, 
Rul'd by George's mild command, 
On this bright, auspicious day 
Loyal hearts their tribute pay. 

Ever sacred be to mirth 

The day that gave our Monarch birth! 

There the thundering Cannon's roar 
Echoes round from shore to shore; 
Royal Banners wave on high; 
Drums and trumpets rend the sky. 

There our comrades clad in Arms, 
Long enured to War's alarms, 
Marshall'd all in bright array 
Welcome this returning day. 

There, the temples chime their bells: 
And the pealing anthem swells; 
And the gay, the grateful throng 
Join the loud triumphant song! 



1. See "Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsyl- 
vania," vol. XII. "Life and Writings of John Dickinson," pp. 
190-1. An excellent account of the proceedings leading to 
the adoption of the Declaration and an exposition of its merits 
will be found in Tyler : "Literary History of the American 
Revolution" ; I, 494-521. 

2. "Printed from the author's copy, collated with a con- 
temporaneous Manuscript;" Sargent: "Loyal Verses;" pp. 
7-8. 



112 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

O'er this Land among the rest, 
Till of late supremely blest, 
George, to sons of Britain dear, 
Swell'd the song from year to year. 

Here, we now lament to find 
Sons of Britain, fierce and blind, 
Drawn from loyal love astray, 
Hail no more this welcome day. 

When by foreign Foes dismay'd. 
Thankless Sons, ye call'd for aid; 
Then, we gladly fought and bled. 
And your Foes in triumph led. 

Now% by Fortune's blind command, 
Captives in your hostile Land; 
To this lonely spot we stray 
Here unseen to hail this day! 

Though by Fortune thus betray'd, 
For a while we seek the shade, 
Still our loyal hearts are free — 
Still devoted, George, to thee! 

Britain, Empress of the Main, 
Fortune envies thee in vain. 
Safe, while Ocean round thee flows. 
Though the world were all thy Foes. 

Long as Sun and Moon endure 

Britain's Throne shall stand secure. 

And great George's royal line 

There in splendid honor shine. 
Ever sacred be to Mirth 
The day that gave our Monarch birth ! 

The author of the above loyal piece was indeed ardent 



July 4th, 1776 113 

in the cause he espoused. Having attached himself in his 
earlier years to the king's forces in a medical capacity, Dr. 
Odell turned to the ministry of the Church of England 
in the colonies and became rector of a church (St. Mary's 
Episcopal) at Burlington, New Jersey. Subsequently, he 
was chaplain to a Tory regiment in New York. The 
close of the war brought him the common trouble and 
anxiety which were the lot of so many of his views and 
he retired with the British flag to other soil, settling and 
remaining in the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova 
Scotia. In 1818, well past the four-score mark, he died. 
The work of Dr. Odell was considerable and was informed 
with an intelligent appreciation of the forces in conflict 
and he showed his sincerity no less than the men whose 
opinion on the vital concern of his day he declined 
to accept or follow. 

Congress lost little time In Issuing orders to the com- 
mander-in-chief to cause the Declaration to be "pro- 
claimed at the head of the army." Less than a week 
after the adoption of the instrument, Washington in a 
letter from New York wrote to the President of Con- 
gress, John Hancock; "Agreeably to the request of the 
Congress, I caused the Declaration to be proclaimed before 
all the army under my immediate command ; and have the 
pleasure to Inform them, that the measure seemed to have 
their most hearty assent; the expressions and behavior, 
both of officers and men, testifying their warmest appro- 
bation of it." Upon receipt of the congressional instruc- 
tions, the General had expressed to his men the hope that 
"this important Event will serve as a fresh incentive to 



114 I'he Spirit of the American Revolution 

every officer and soldier, to act with Fidelity and Cour- 
age, as knowing that now the peace and safety of his 
Country, depends (under God) solely on the success of 
our Arms: And that he is now in the service of the 
State, possessed of sufficient power to reward his merit 
and advance him to the highest Honors of a free Coun- 
try."^ 

Upon our grand Congress, may heaven bestow 
Both wisdom and skill our good to pursue; 

On heaven alone dependent we'll be. 

But from all earthly tyrants we mean to be free. 

Unto our brave generals may heaven give skill, 
Our armies to guide and the sword for to wield; 

May their hands taught to war and their fingers to fight. 
Be able to put British armies to flight. 

And now, brave Americans, since it is so. 

That we are independent we'll have them to know, 
That united we are, and united we'll be. 

And from all British tyrants we'll try to keep free. 

May heaven smile on us in all our endeavours. 

Safeguard our sea-ports, our towns and our rivers; 

Keep us from invaders, by land and by sea. 

And from all who'd deprive us of our liberty.^ 

As we shall see in the chapter to follow, there was 
grave need of encouragement for the soldiers in the en- 
suing months to take part in the now famous retreat from 



1. "Writings of George Washington," collected and edited 
by Worthington C. Ford, IV, 224-226. 

2. 'Treeman's Journal, or New Hampshire Gazette," Au- 
gust I/, 1776; quoted by Duyckinck: "Cyclopaedia of Amer- 
ican Literature," I, 464. 



July 4th, I'j'jd 115 

the Hudson to the Delaware and the wisdom of their 
commander as shown by the words of his Orderly Book is 
only too apparent. Practical building up of spirits was of 
all things most needful. The hour of great trial was ap- 
proaching. Again and again, as will appear later on, Wash- 
ington himself felt keenly the character of the position in 
which he found his discouraged and depleted forces and 
in letter after letter he freely expressed his concern. 

The bards lent encouragement in the newspapers and 
broadsides of the day. Witness one of their numerous ef- 
fusions appropriately entitled, "On Independence," and is- 
sued little over a month after the Declaration: 

Come all you brave soldiers, both valiant and free, 
It's for Independence we all now agree, 

Let us gird on our swords, and prepare to defend 
Our liberty, property, ourselves and our friends. 

In a cause that's so righteous, come let us agree. 
And from hostile invaders set America free; 

The cause is so glorious we need not to fear 

But from merciless tyrants we'll set ourselves clear. 

Heaven's blessing attending us, no tyrant shall say 
That Americans e'er to such monsters gave way; 

But, fighting, we'll die in America's cause, 
Before we'll submit to tyrannical laws. 

George the Third, of Great Britain, no more shall he 
reign. 

With unlimited sway o'er these free states again; 
Lord North, nor old Bute, nor none of their clan, 

Shall ever be honor'd by an American. 



Ii6 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

May heaven's blessing descend on our United States, 
And grant that the union may never abate; 

May love, peace and harmony ever be found 
For to go hand in hand America round. 



CHAPTER VII 

''THE TIMES THAT TRY MEN'S SOULS" 

Washington's movements following Howe — Brooklyn 
Heights — grave concern — Nathan Hale: spy — his mis- 
sion; its purpose and results — poem thereon — The retreat 
through New Jersey — a dreary summer and autumn — 
*'the times that try mens souls" — David Humphreys's 
verse — Letters of Washington describing his situation — 
Rev. Wheeler Case on the victory at Trenton — "The 
Cornwalliad" and lingering echoes. 

AS we have already intimated in the chapter just 
closed, Washington, on learning Howe's intention 
and apparent design, moved his command south- 
west from Boston to a new base in an endeavor to save 
New York if possible from its threatening fall. Troops 
and fleet in concert augured well for the success of the 
British plans after their arrival at Staten Island in New 
York Harbor. The battle of August 27th on Brooklyn 
Heights, about where Prospect Park now is, was a severe 
shock with shadow-throwing results. The chances of the 
continued occupation of the city at the Hudson's mouth 
seemed dimmer. It was evident at once to the Ameri- 
can commander that he must change his position and he 
was again in grave doubt as to the future operations of 
the enemy. "At no period of the war was Washington 
oppressed with keener anxieties of a heavier responsibility 
than during the twenty days immediately following the 

117 



Ii8 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

battle of Long Island."^ The Americans after their de- 
feat had crossed the East River and taken up their posi- 
tion along the opposite shore. Doubt as to Howe's next 
move was uppermost in the mind of their commander-in- 
chief. In order to secure information on this point Wash- 
ington sought the services of a spy. One was soon found 
in the person of Nathan Hale, a young graduate oi Yale 
and a captain in "Knowlton's Rangers," a vigilant and 
daring band of "about one hundred and fifty men and 
twenty officers" organized to learn the movements of the 
enemy and to report forthwith to headquarters any 
information they might ascertain. No need here of 
entering at length into the work of young Hale. It has 
been told and retold many times. Suffice it to recall his 
energy and enthusiasm in the service of his country, his 
heroic and touching death at British hands. His mission 
seems to have. been of no direct avail but the memory of 
it and of its end lingered vividly on in the minds of the 
young martyr's comrades-in-arms.^ Hale's character and 
purpose appear, indeed, to have been lofty and his own 
words give one an impression of the sincere patriotism 
of which his may be considered a type. "If the exigencies 
of my country demand a peculiar service," said he, "its 
claims to perform that service are imperious."^ And his 
final words will be remembered always: "I only regret 
that I have but one life to lose for my country."* 

Single valorous deeds such as Nathan Hale's seldom 



1. H. P. Johnston: "Nathan Hale," N. Y., 1901 ; p. 89. 

2. See p. 175. 

3. Johnston: p. 100. 

4. Ibid., p. 108. 



''The Times That Try Mens Souls" 119 

failed of remembrance in verse, and it is truly remarkable 
how many such afforded a theme for the ballad writers. 
Witness the following^ — one of the best — on Hale's cap- 
ture and death: 

The breezes went steadily thro' the tall pines, 
A saying "oh! hu-sh!" a saying "oh hu-sh!" 

As stilly stole by a bold legion of horse. 
For Hale in the bush, for Hale in the bush. 

"Keep still!" said the thrush as she nestled her young, 
In a nest by the road, in a nest by the road ; 

"For the tyrants are near, and with them appear. 
What bodes us no good ; what bodes us no good." 

The brave captain heard it, and thought of his house. 
In a cot by the brook; in a cot by the brook; 

With mother and sister and memories dear, 
He so gaily forsook ; he so gaily forsook. 

Cooling shades of the night were coming apace. 
The tattoo had beat; the tattoo had beat, 

The noble one sprang from his dark lurking place. 
To make his retreat; to make his retreat. 

He warily trod on the dry rustling leaves, 

As he pass'd thro' the wood; as he passed thro' the 
wood; 

And silently gain'd his rude launch on the shore. 

As she play'd with the flood ; as she play'd with the flood. 

The guards of the camp, on that dark, dreary night. 
Had a murderous will; had a murderous will; 

They took him and bore him afar from the shore, 
To a hut on the hill; to a hut on the hill. 



I. See Moore: "Songs and Ballads," pp. 131-33. 



I20 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

No mother was there, nor a friend who could cheer, 
In that little stone cell; in that little stone cell; 

But he trusted in love, from his father above. 

In his heart, all was well; in his heart, all was well. 

An ominous owl with his solemn base voice, 
Sat moaning hard by; sat moaning hard by; 

"The tyrant's proud minions most gladly rejoice. 
For he must soon die; for he must soon die." 

The brave fellow told them, nothing he restrain'd. 

The cruel gen'ral; the cruel gen'ral; 
His errand from camp, of the ends to be gain'd. 

And said that was all; and said that was all. 

They took him and bound him and bore him away, 

Down the hill's grassy side; down the hill's grassy side. 

'Twas there the base hirelings, in royal array. 
His cause did deride; his cause did deride. 

Five minutes were given, short moments, no more. 

For him to repent ; for him to repent ; 
He pray'd for his mother, he ask'd not another. 

To Heaven he went; to Heaven he went. 

The faith of the martyr, the tragedy shew'd, 

As he trod the last stage; as he trod the last stage; 

And Britons will shudder at gallant Hale's blood. 
As his words do presage, as his words do presage. 

"Thou pale king of terrors, thou life's gloomy foe. 
Go frighten the slave, go frighten the slave; 

Tell tyrants, to you their allegiance they owe. 
No fears for the brave, no fears for the brave." 

The patriot arms had not equalled in achievement the 
expectations of the people during the latter half of the 



"The Times That Try Mens Souls*' 121 

year 1776. Long Island and what followed — with the 
loss of New York and the lower Hudson — served to fill 
with something akin to despair the hearts of those who 
had seen in the July Declaration a master-stroke in state- 
craft. It was certainly a dreary summer, autumn and 
early winter for Washington on whom everything seemed 
centred and on whom appeared to rest the destinies that 
should be. His retreat after Harlem Heights and White 
Plains with all that could be called the American army, 
though brilliant and masterly of its kind, must have been 
disheartening, indeed, if it did not seem even to border 
upon the ignominious. It is proof of the character of the 
man and of the trust his men put in his character and 
ability that the cause in which they struggled did not to- 
tally collapse. "These are the times that try men's souls," 
wrote Paine in the "Pennsylvania Journal" of the 19th 
of December, 1776. "The summer soldier and the sun- 
shine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of 
their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the 
love and thanks of every man and woman. Tyranny like 
hell, is not easily conquered ; yet we have this consolation 
with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious 
the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too 
lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its 
value."^ 

A perusal of Washington's letters during this trying 
period will reveal only too clearly how deep his anxiety 
for a victory of an arresting scope must have been. On 
the tenth of December we read his urgent words impor- 



I. "Writings of Thomas Paine," ed. by M. D. Conway; I, 
170. 



122 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

tuning the stubborn and recalcitrant General Charles Lee 
to proceed forthwith with his much needed wing of the 
army. *'Do come on ; your arrival may be happy, and if 
it can be effected without delay, it may be the means of 
preserving a city,^ whose loss must prove of the most fa- 
tal consequence to the cause of America."^ And on the 
same day these further sentences to another:^ "I wish to 
Heaven it was in my power to give you a more favorable 
account of our situation than it is. Our numbers, quite 
inadequate to the task of opposing that part of the army 
under the command of General Howe, being reduced by 
sickness, desertion, and political deaths . . . were obliged to 
retire before the enemy, who were perfectly well-informed 
of our situation, till we came to this place, where I have 
no idea of being able to make a stand, as my numbers, till 
joined by the Philadelphia militia, did not exceed three 
thousand men fit for duty. Now, we may be about five 
thousand to oppose Howe's whole army* ... I tremble for 
Philadelphia.'' Surely, a picture hard to behold when the 
responsibility of a country's liberties rests upon one's 
shoulders ! 

On that memorable Christmas Eve, the day before his 
brilliant advance upon Trenton, the commander-in-chief 
wrote to the President of Congress from his "camp, above 
Trenton Falls": "That I should dwell upon the subject 
of our distresses, cannot be more disagreeable to Congress 



1. Philadelphia. 

2. "Writings of George Washington," ed. by W. C. Ford; 
V. 75. 

3. Lund Washington. See "Writings;" V, 77-8. 

4. Later on, Washington estimates his force at less than 
half Howe's in number. 



''The Times That Try Mens Souls'' 123 

than it is painful to myself. The alarming situation, to 
which our affairs are reduced, impels me to the measure. 
Inquiry and investigation, which in most cases serve to 
develop and point out a remedy, in ours, present more 
and greater difficulties. Till of late, I was led to hope 
from report, that no inconsiderable part of the troops com- 
paring the regiments that were with General Lee, and 
those from Ticonderoga under General Gates, had en- 
listed again. This intelligence, I confess, gave me reason 
to expect, that I should have, at the expiration of the pres- 
ent year, a force somewhat more respectable, than what I 
find will be the case."^ Such was the state of mind, free- 
ly revealed, of the commander himself on the eve of his 
signal triumph. 

It will be remembered that at this very hour the Hes- 
sian soldiers hired by the British king were preparing for 
the festivities of the Christmastide at Trenton. Distressed 
as he was, Washington determined to throw his full 
strength across the Delaware in three divisions, to march 
upon the city and, engaging every resource possible, to 
compass its fall. Art and poetry have aided history in tell- 
ing the story of the memorable night: 

Where the great chief, o'er Del'ware's icy wave. 
Led the small band, in danger doubly brave, 
On high designed — and ere the dawning hour, 
Germania's vet'rans own'd the victor's power.^ 

Washington's two-fold success — at Trenton and, less 
than a fortnight thereafter, at Princeton where Corn- 



'Writings," V, 128-9. 

'Poems," by Col. David Humphreys, p. 11. 



124 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

walHs was out-generalled — was a great personal triumph 
and coming just when it did — the outlook on every side, 
as we have noted, for all the weeks of the dreary retreat 
apparently far from bright — was seized upon in many a 
song and ballad and sung alike at camp and fireside. Hopes 
rose, hearts seemed lighter and renewed courage moved 
men to enlist for longer terms of service in the field. A 
patriot clergyman and obscure bard, the Reverend Wheel- 
er Case,^ expressed the sentiment of joy as follows :^ 

O what a blessing to the States! it is our bliss, 

Great Washington was rais'd for such a day as this. 

How good, how kind is most indulgent heav'n, 

That such a leader to our army's given! 

What great exploits he and his troops have done ! 

How bravely they have fought, what vict'ries won. 

It was the Lord that did their breasts inspire 

With thirst for liberty and martial fire. 

'Twas he their operations plann'd so well. 

And fought for them, e'en when ten thousand fell. 

When these affairs arc view'd and duly scann'd. 

He's blind that does not see Jehovah's hand. 

See Washington thro' Jersey State retreat, 

His foes rejoice, they thought that he was beat; 

Hoive him pursues with speed, he presses on. 

He thought the day his own, the vict'ry won. 

The secret friends of George their off'rings bring, 

They boldly raise their head, and own their King: 

O gloom is spread around, alas! what grief. 

We know not where to go to find relief. 

A storm of snow and hail the Lord sent down, 

A blessed season this for Washington : 

He now return'd, and thro' the storm he press'd, 

And caught twelve hundred Hessians in their nest. 



1. See p. 158. 

2. "Revolutionary Memorials, embracing Poems," pp. 40-44. 



"The Times That Try Mens Souls" 125 

And echoes of it all were not soon to die away, for, over 
two years after the event, we read in a lengthy mock-epic 
of a rather common type, *'The Cornwalliad, an Heroi- 
Comic Poem,"^ amid a long series of achievements of the 
British general, a reference to his movements following his 
surprise at Princeton: 

I sing the prowess of that martial chief. 
Who bravely patient bore a weight of grief. 
On that sad eve that closed the march he made. 
From Trenton hills to Brunswic,^ retrograde. 



1. "The United States Magazine," March to June, 1770. 
Composed of four cantos: I, 133-4. 181-2; II, 2^)2-;^, 278-9; 317- 
18; III, 394-400; IV, 431-33. The work ends abruptly with the 
statement : 'The rest is wanting." 

2. Cornwallis made winter headquarters at New Bruns- 
wick, 



CHAPTER VIII 

TWO CRITICAL YEARS 

Campaign of Burgoyne in New York about the upper 
Hudson, 1777 — the British proclamation and parodies 
thereof — the "Green Mountain Boys" — Jane McCrea — 
St. Leger — Herkimer — Surrender at Saratoga — Joel Bar- 
low's ''Vision of Columbus'' quoted — Convention with 
France, 1778 — "The Northern Campaign* — Gen. Gates 
— "To Britain" — Joseph S tans bury' s "Ode for the Year 
1778'' — Tory feeling on the French Alliance — Patriotism 
of Women — Francis Hopkinson — his life and place — 
"The Battle of the Kegs" — Freneau's "America Inde- 
pendent." — Our navy — the "Alliance" — Freneau's poem. 

BEFORE it closed, the year 1777 saw the American 
cause far more advanced than it had been during 
cither of the preceding years. Rumor was soon 
abroad that a new plan had been adopted by the ministry 
with the intent that its fulfillment should mean the com- 
plete crushing of the revolutionists' hopes. General John 
Burgoyne, a member of Parliament and a veteran soldier 
who had already seen service in America, was appointed 
to lead the 'British forces to victory. His orders called 
for a thorough campaign to eventuate in the subjugation 
and control of New York state and the Hudson valley 
with the consequent separation of New England from the 
middle and southern colonies. The British arms had 
failed in New England but had succeeded at the mouth of 

126 



Two Critical Years 127 

the Hudson. It was therefore determined to try to fur- 
ther the conquest in that region. Hoyi^e was expected to 
capture Philadelphia, move on to New York and thence 
up the Hudson. Burgoyne would march south from the 
St. Lawrence toward Albany. A detachment from Os- 
wego east would bring the Mohawk country also into 
line. Such, in brief, was the plan and the fulfillment there- 
of appeared simple and easy of accomplishment. 

It was Burgoyne's belief and fond hope that he would 
have the cordial support of the inhabitants through whose 
territory he planned to march. From the border south to 
Albany, his objective, the British commander felt assured 
of the loyalist sympathies of the common folk. With 
their aid, moral and material, he confidently pressed for- 
ward to what, he trusted, would be the triumphantly suc- 
cessful and decisive issue of his campaign. His proclama- 
tion, dated at his camp near Ticonderoga, on Lake Cham- 
plain, July 2, 1777, bespeaks the British mind. Burgoyne 
declares: "The forces entrusted to my command, are de- 
signed to act in concert, and upon a common principle, 
with the numerous armies and fleets which already dis- 
play in every quarter of America, the power, the justice, 
and, when properly sought, the mercy of the King." The 
pompous wordiness of the whole proclamation served ad- 
mirably the satirist's purposes and in the current news- 
papers the bards took the matter up in their characteristic 
way. 

It will not be necessary here to enter at length into the 
history of this much heralded yet singularly unsuccessful 
invasion that made the year 1777 forever memorable — 
how, to secure needed reinforcements, Burgoyne des- 



128 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

patched Baum to Bennington, only to lose all he sent 
through the vigilance and bravery of the "Green Moun- 
tain Boys" under Stark — how the Indians at a crit- 
ical moment forsook the British standards and how^, 
in one sad episode, the redskins slew the far-famed 
Jane McCrea.^ Nor shall we dwell upon St. 
Leger's futile effort to reach Albany nor on the sac- 
rifice of Herkimer, "one of God's nobility,"- in the bloody 
ravine of Oriskany, nor on the skill of Schuyler and the 
bold bravery of Arnold, far yet from treason — how they 
and Gates met the foe and overwhelmed him at Bemis's 
Heights and Freeman's Farm and how, finally, in mid- 
October the proud invader was brought to surrender at 
Saratoga. Next to the campaigns in the South under 
Greene and Washington, Lafayette and Rochambeau — 
in the Carolinas first and in Virginia later — this checking 
of the British in New York in 1777 was, in the large, the 
most spectacular as a military success and as an earnest 
of future possibilities that American arms performed dur- 
ing the whole struggle. 

Joel Barlow in his "Vision of Columbus," previously 
discussed,^ will furnish us a full-length picture of Bur- 
goyne's campaign: 



1. The fate of Miss McCrea was one of the most widely 
known of Revolutionary tragic episodes. The young girl's 
brother was a patriot but her young lover, one David Jones, 
was in the British army. On her way to meet him early in 
the summer of 1777 her party was surprised by an Indian, a 
famous Wyandot, near Fort Edward and she was cruelly mur- 
dered. See Fiske: "American Revolution," 

2. See "Oriskany," by J. Watts De Peyster in "Magazine of 
American History," II, i, p. 23. 

3. See pp. 66, f¥. 



Two Critical Years 129 

Now, where dread Lawrence mingles with the main, 
Rose, on the widening wave, a hostile train 
From shore to shore, along the unfolding skies. 
Beneath full sails, the approaching squadrons rise; 
High-waving on the right red banners dance, 
And British legions o'er the decks advance; 
While at their side an azure flag, display'd. 
Leads a long host, in German robes array'd. 

Tall, on the boldest bark, superior shone 
A warrior, ensign'd with a various crown; 
Myrtles and laurels equal honours join'd, 
Which arms had purchased and the Muses twined; 
His sword waved forward, and his ardent eye 
Seem'd sharing empires in the southern sky. 
Beside him rose a herald, to proclaim 
His various honours, titles, feats, and fame; 
Who raised an opening scroll, where proudly shone 
Pi:rdon to realms and nations yet unknown. 

Champlain received the congregated host, 
And his dark waves, beneath the sails, are lost; 
St. Clair beholds, and, with his scanty train. 
In firm retreat, o'er many a fatal plain. 
Lures their Wild march. Wide moves their furious force. 
Where flaming hamlets mark their wasting course; 
Thro' pathless realms their spreading ranks are wheel'd 
O'er Mohawk's western wave and Bennington's dread 

field ; 
Till, where deep Hudson's winding waters stray, 
A yeoman host opposed their rapid way; 
There on a towery height brave Gates arose. 
Waved the blue steel and dared the headlong foes ; 
Undaunted Lincoln, moving at his side. 
Urged the dread strife, and spread the squadrons wide; 
Now roll, like winged storms, the lengthening lines. 
The clarion thunders and the battle joins; 
Thick flames, in voUied flashes, fill the air. 



I30 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

And echoing mountains give the noise of war; 

The clouds rise reddening round the dreadful height, 

And veil the skies and wrap the sounding fight. 

Now, in the skirt of night, where thousands toil. 

Ranks roll away and into light recoil; 

The rout increases, all the British train 

Tread back their steps and scatter o'er the plain; 

To the glad holds precipitate retire, 

And wide behind them streams the flashing fire. 

Scarce moved the smoke above the gory height, 
And oped the slaughter to the Hero's sight; 
Back to their fate, when baffled squadrons flew. 
Resumed their rage, and pour'd the strife anew ; 
Again the batteries roar, the lightnings play. 
Again they fall, again they roll away. 
And now Columbia, circling round the field, 
Points her full force — the trembling thousands yield; 
When bold Burgoyne, in one disastrous day. 
Sees future crowns and former wreaths decay; 
While two illustrious armies shade the plain, 
The mighty victors and the captive train.^ 

Burgoyne's downfall threw the British wiseacres into 
bitter dismay and caused both sides to modify their views. 
New York was safe as was New England. Affairs of 
the revolutionists grew perceptibly brighter and the pos- 
sible final achievement of independence loomed up not 
quite so hazy as only too long it had in the past. Frank- 
lin at the Court of Louis of France made no delay in urg- 
ing anew his desire that an alliance would indeed be ac- 
ceptable to his countrymen and we may rightly say that 
the capitulation at Saratoga was potent in hastening the 



I. 'The Vision of Columbus," 159-161. 



Two Critical Years 131 

conclusion of the convention at Paris in 1778 which, while 
it granted formal recognition to the United States by the 
government of France, insured also the active and avowed 
participation of French troops and ships toward the con- 
summation so earnestly longed for. 

Little wonder, then, if the verse of the hour failed not 
to concern itself with the victory at Stillwater. Out of 
many let us quote from one of twenty-one stanzas, enti- 
tled, "The Northern Campaign." Its author, it appears, 
is unknown. 

Come unto me, ye heroes. 

Whose hearts are true and bold. 
Who value more your honor 

Than others do their gold; 
Give ear unto my story, 

And I the truth will tell 
Concerning many a soldier 

Who for his country fell. 

Burgoyne, the king's commander, 

From Canada set sail; 
With full eight thousand regulars, 

He thought he could not fail; 
With Indians and Canadians, 

And his cursed tory crew. 
On board his fleet of shipping 

He up the Champlain flew. 

Before Ticonderoga, 

The first day of July, 
Appear'd his ships and army. 

And we did them espy. 
Their motions we observed 

Full well both night and day. 



32 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

And our brave boys prepared 
To have a bloody fray. 

To take the stores and cattle 

That we had gathered then, 
Burgoyne sent a detachment 

Of fifteen hundred men; 
By Baum they were commanded, 

To Bennington they went; 
To plunder and to murder 

Was fully their intent. 

But little did they know then 

With whom they had to deal; 
It was not quite so easy 

Our stores and stock to steal; 
Bold Stark would give them only 

A portion of his lead: 
With half his crew ere sunset 

Baum lay among the dead. 

The nineteenth of September, 

The morning cool and clear. 
Brave Gates rode through our army, 

Each soldier's heart to cheer: 
"Burgoyne," he cried, "advances. 

But we will never fly; 
No — rather than surrender, 

We'll fight him till we die." 

The news was quickly brought us, 

The enemy was near. 
And all along our lines then 

There was no sign of fear; 
It was above Stillwater 

We met at noon that day, 
And every one expected 



Two Critical Years i%% 

To see a bloody fray. 

Now here's a health to Arnold, 

And our commander Gates ;^ 
To Lincoln and to Washington, 

Whom ev'ry Tory hates; 
Likewise unto our Congress, 

God grant it long to reign, 
Our country. Right and Justice 

Forever to maintain. 

Now finish 'd is my story. 

My song is at an end; 
The freedom we're enjoying 

We're ready to defend ; 
For while our cause is righteous. 

Heaven nerves the soldier's arm, 
And vain is their endeavor 

Who strive to do us harm.^ 

In England there had always been a division of opinion 
and feeling in regard to the American question. Through 
all the years, frequent reference is made to America, at 
times disparaging and derogatory, again, in terms of gen- 
uine feeling in her behalf. In one poem entitled, *'To 
Britain," published in a British journal^ we read an ap- 
peal to the nation in these words: 



1. General Horatio Gates was born in England but early 
joined in the colonists' cause. His ambition seems to have 
been to supersede Washington in the supreme command as he 
did Gen. Schuyler in command of the Northern Army shortly 
before the final action. The glory Gates won at Saratoga 
faded sadly with the disastrous southern campaign which he 
led subsequently. A splendid collection of Gates's papers may 
be seen in the library of the New York Historical Society. 

2. See Stone's "Ballads," 86-93. 

3. Say's "British Journal." Quoted in Moore, pp. 163-4. 



134 ^^^ Spirit of the American Revolution 

Blush Britain! blush at thy inglorious war, 
This civil contest, this ignoble jar; 
Think how unjustly youVe begun the fray, 
With cruel measures rous'd America. 

To arms : each swain must leave the peaceful field, 
And against his brethren lift the sword and shield ; 
Their spacious commerce, now in ruin lies, 
And thro' their land the hostile standard flies. 

Britain, what laurel canst thou hope to gain? 
Can any action give a hero fame? 
In brother's blood our soldiers' hands imbru'd 
And barb'rous hostiles by our chiefs pursu'd. 

Afflicting Britain, thus to spoil thy name. 
Defeat's a scandal, conquest but a sham; 
Our senators all lost in dire excess, 
Lovers of pleasure, luxury, and dress. 

Almighty ruler, stretch thy potent hand , 
And o'er Britannia wave the olive wand; 
Preserve our nation from the impending fate. 
Drive clouds of Scotchmen from the British state; 
Fair peace descend, with all thy prosp'rous train. 
And spread thy blessings o'er our spacious plain. 

A finer poem,^ breathing the very breath of the spirit of 
reconciliation, is the following, attributed by Sargent to 
Joseph Stansbury, a Tory: 

When rival nations, great in arms. 

Great in power, in glory great. 
Fill the world with loud alarms. 



I. See "Ode for the Year 1778" in "Loyal Verses," ed. by 
Winthrop Sargent, pp. 31-2. The poem, Sargent asserts, is 
"Printed from a contemporary manuscript." 



Two Critical Years I35 

And breathe a temporary hate : 
The hostile storms but rage awhile, 

And the tir'd contest ends. 
But ah! how hard to reconcile 

The foes who once were friends. 

Each hasty word, each look unkind, 
Each distant hint, that seems to mean 

A something lurking in the mind 
That almost longs to lurk unseen; 

Each shadow of a shade offends 

Th' embittered foes who once were friends. 

That Pow'r made, who fram'd the Soul, 

And bade the Springs of passion play 
Can all their jarring strings control; 

And form, on discord, concord's sway. 
'Tis He alone, whose breath of love 
Did o'er the world of waters move — 

Whose touch the mountain bends — 
Whose word from darkness call'd forth light; 
'Tis He alone can reunite 

The foes who once were friends. 

To Him, O Britain! bow the knee — 
His awful, his august decree, 

Ye rebel tribes adore! 
Forgive at once and be forgiven 
Ope in each breast a little heaven; 

And discord is no more! 

The prospect of the French alliance proved a cause of 
marked perturbation of spirit on the part of the Tory 
element — a state of mind and temper reflected as usual 
In the papers of the time. Acknowledged independence 
for America seemed now a fact merely of patient expecta- 



136 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

tlon. Though the prospect of ultimate success stirred 
men's souls, it must have appeared to many, on second 
thought, that the sources of dissension were still only too 
clearly present and quickening. A Tory poem,^ in five 
quatrains, appeared in the "Royal Gazette"^ at this time 
and poignantly indicated the strength of the spirit of those 
opposed to separation and independence. Here is one of 
the stanzas: 

Though rebels unnumber'd oppose their career, 

Their hearts are undaunted, they're strangers to fear, 

No obstacles hinder; resistless they go. 

And death and destruction attend every blow. 

A glance at another side of the battle of words will re- 
veal the fact that its supporting bards were in no respect 
idle and both in America and in England they were far 
from wanting. A fair piece of sarcastic raillery appeared 
in the "London Evening Post," afterwards to be repub- 
lished in colonial papers. It bore the title, "The Halcyon 
Days of Old England," and came out in 1778. Here is its 
style : 

Give ear to my song, I'll not tell you a story ; 
This is the bright era of Old England's glory! 
And though some may think us in pitiful plight, 
I'll swear they're mistaken, for matters go right! 

Let us laugh at the cavils of weak, silly elves! 
Our statesmen are wise men ! they say so themselves, 
And tho' little mortals may hear it with wonder, 
'Tis consummate wisdom, that causes each blunder! 



I. "British Light Infantry." See Moore: "Songs and Bal- 
lads," pp. 105-6. 



Two Critical Years 137 

They are now engaged in a glorious war! 

It began about tea, about feathers and tar; 

With spirit they push what they've planned with sense! 

Forty millions they've spent, for a tax of three pence. 

Tribute is frequently paid to the encouragement lent 
by the women during the years of struggle; for example, 
in a poem entitled, "Public Spirit of the Women" ;^ 

Could time be roU'd backw^ard, and age become young, 
My heart swell with ardor, my arm be new strung; 
Under Washington's banner I'd cheerfully fight, 
Where the smiles of the fair with glory unite. 

And the poet indulges in a little retrospective desire: 

Our patriot fair like a charm can inspire, 

In three-score-and-ten, twenty's spirit and fire. 

In another poem, we find these four lines: 

God bless our gentle mothers, dear, 

Who cheer us on our way! 
God bless our loving sisters, dear, 

Who with them at home stay.- 

There was humor, too, in many of the events of those 
stirring years; humor, striking the parties to it somewhat 
differently at times. It seems that close to Philadelphia 
"infernal machines," evidently resembling kegs, were set 
floating on the Delaware by the Americans in the hope 

1. See Moore: "Songs and Ballads," pp. 200-2. 

2. See below, pp. 171-72, for quotation from "Life and Cor- 
respondence of Joseph Reed," William B. Reed, Philadelphia, 
1847. 



138 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

that upon contact with British shipping their explosion 
would cause no little havoc. The British appear to have 
done their best to destroy these floating "mines" by firing 
upon them at a distance — a proceeding which, according 
to the poem, "The Battle of the Kegs," by Francis Hop- 
kinson, created no little amusement for the Americans 
alongshore. The poem is one of slight merit, but is 
spirited, ironical, and has that quality which would insure 
its wide circulation and popularity in a time such as that 
in which it was written. It is too long for quotation in 
full and the following stanzas shall suffice to give its 
general tenor: 

Gallants attend and hear a friend 

Trill forth harmonious ditty. 
Strange things I'll tell which late befell 

In Philadelphia City. 

'Twas early day, as poets say. 

Just when the sun was rising, 
A soldier stood on a log of wood. 

And saw a thing surprising. 

As in amaze he stood to gaze, 

The truth can't be denied, sir. 
He spied a score of kegs or more 

Come floating down the tide, sir. 

These kegs I'm told, the rebels bold, 

Pack'd up like pickling herring; 
And they're come down t' attack the town ; 

In this new way of ferrying. 

Now up and down throughout the town. 
Most frantic scenes were acted ; 



Two Critical Years 139 

And some ran here, and others there 
Like men almost distracted. 

"Arise, arise, Sir Erskine cries. 

The rebels — more's the pity, 
Without a boat are all afloat. 

And rang'd before the City. 

"The motley crew, in vessels new, 

With Satan for their guide, sir, 
Pack'd up in bags or wooden kegs, 

Come driving down the tide, sir. 

Therefore prepare for bloody war, 

These kegs must all be routed, 
Or surely we despised shall be. 

And British courage doubted." 

The cannons roar from shore to shore. 

The small arms make a rattle; 
Since wars began I'm sure no man 

E'er saw so strange a battle. 

The rebel dales, the rebel vales. 

With rebel trees surrounded; 
The distant woods, the hills and floods. 

With rebel echoes sounded. 

The fish below swam to and fro, 

Attack'd from ev'ry quarter; 
Why sure, thought they, the devil's to pay, 

'Mongst folks above the water. 

From morn to night these men of might 

Display'd amazing courage; 
And when the sun was fairly down, 

Retir'd to sup their porrage. 



140 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Such feats did they perform that day, 

Against these wick'd kegs, sir, 
That years to come, if they get home. 

They'll make their boasts and brags, sir. 

It will be well here to give briefly the facts of Francis 
Hopkinson's career. We have already^ suggested the 
place he holds as one of three of most importance among 
the poets of the Revolution, and have at several points^ 
in our narrative cited poems and opinions which he ex- 
pressed in the earlier years of the struggle. We have 
seen how^ he could find it possible to write a most lauda- 
tory ascription in verse to the second George and in sim- 
ilar vein to his successor. We have also noted^ his change 
of attitude toward the sovereign whose crown jewels were 
loosening in their settings. He became ''one of the prime 
wits of the Revolution, and may be ranked alongside of 
Trumbull for his eflficiency in the cause."^ 

Francis Hopkinson was born in Philadelphia in 1737 
and received his education at the University of Pennsyl- 
vania in its earliest class. Subsequently, he studied 
law. Early in the struggle Hopkinson lost his position 
as royal tax receiver through his adherence to the rebel 
cause. He was sent to the continental congress of 1776 
and signed the Declaration of Independence as a delegate 
from New Jersey. He received appointment to a com- 
mittee of three which had practical charge of naval af- 
fairs. In 1779, he was made judge of the admiralty of 

83. 

"Cyclopaedia of American Literature;" I, 



I. 


P. 24 and p. 


2. 


Pp. Z2>, ff. 


3- 


P. 35, ft. 


4- 


Duyckinck : 



Two Critical Years 141 

Pennsylvania, an office his father, Thomas Hopkinson, 
had previously held. President Washington made him 
judge of the district court in 1790, but he died in May 
of the following year. Besides his interests above detailed, 
Francis Hopkinson was a church warden and took a keen 
interest in church affairs. His tastes went out toward 
music and painting as well as to literary work. The 
poetry^ of Judge Hopkinson dealt with a variety of sub- 
jects, though only those, of course, of patriotic theme are 
within our province and but two or three of these in addi- 
tion to the verse already quoted. One piece pictures 
Britannia under the similitude of a forlorn and wretched 
woman who, meeting the poet, confides her story to him, 
her days of glory past, and she, the mother of a "long, il- 
lustrious line," living to reap the whirlwind of George's 
folly. It requires twenty-four quatrains to complete the 
picture, none of which we shall venture to quote. Better 
work is found in two of his ballads: "A Camp Ballad" 
in six quatrains and "The Toast" in three. Of the first 
of these, the opening stanza and the closing two are worth 
quoting: 

Make room, oh ! ye kingdoms in hist'ry renowned. 
Whose arms have in battle with glory been crown'd, 
Make room for America, another great nation. 
Arises to claim in your council a station. 

To arms then, to arms, 'tis fair freedom invites us; 
The trumpet shrill sounding to battle excites us; 
The banners of virtue unfurl'd, shall wave o'er us, 
Our hero lead on, and the foe fly before us. 



I. In volume III, pp. 1-204, of "Miscellaneous Essays and 
Occasional Writings." 



142 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

On Heav'n and Washington placing reliance, 
We'll meet the bald Briton, and bid him defiance; 
Our cause we'll support, for 'tis just and 'tis glorious 
When men fight for freedom they must be victorious. 

"The Toast" is spirited and "catchy," and we shall 
venture to quote it in full: 

'Tis Washington's health — fill a bumper around, 

For he is our glory and pride ; 
Our arms shall in battle with conquest be crown'd, 

Whilst virtue and he's on our side. 

'Tis Washington's health — and cannons should roar. 
And trumpets the truth should proclaim ; 

There cannot be found, search the world all o'er, 
His equal in virtue and fame. 

'Tis Washington's health — our hero to bless, 

May heav'n look graciously down ; 
Oh ! long may he live our hearts to possess. 

And freedom still call him her own. 

To speak enthusiastically of Francis Hopkinson, the 
poet, is to court critical unreason. Greater in the states- 
man's vision he certainly was. Nevertheless, his verse 
served its turn and doubtless was most popular in the day 
of its appearing. "It may perhaps be said that the great- 
est praise which can justly be bestowed upon it, is that 
the versification is easy, but that the subjects upon which 
it was mostly employed, being generally occasional, it 
cannot afford much interest beyond the immediate circle 
acquainted with the facts."^ "His poems were only in- 



I. John Sanderson : "Biography of the Signers of the Dec- 
laration of Independence:" Phila., 1822; II, 194-5. 



Two Critical Years 143 

tended to amuse, for a moment, the immediate circle of 
his acquaintance, and they were of sufficient merit to en- 
title them to that attention . . ." Thus was his work eval- 
uated nearly a century ago and within the memory of men 
then still living, who had themselves fought on the fields of 
the Revolution and been cheered at the camp-fire by 
the poetry of the bards. His pen was, like Freneau's, the 
pen of a ready writer of satire and ridicule, but, as recent 
critics have noted, his work usually lacks the fiercer and 
more violently bitter element, rather contenting itself with 
the playful presentation of the humorous phase of cur- 
rent events and expressing the writer's patriotic devotion 
in a manner, while temperate, none the less real. 

Over one hundred and twenty-five heroic couplets make 
up a poem by Philip Freneau, dated August, 1778, and 
bearing a title in keeping with its length and spirit — 
''America Independent, And Her Everlasting Deliverance 
from British Tyranny and Oppression."^ In true epic 
fashion, the poet begins by expressing with greater fervor 
than self-depreciation the fact that only a heaven-inspired 
poet could "tell the conflicts of these stormy days!" We 
have, as usual in Freneau's work, the keen zest and fire, 
the extravagant excess of the over-heated emotional out- 
burst. In the spirit, both in substance and in form, of the 
Declaration of Independence and the literature of the 
"age of reason," he exclaims: 

When God from Chaos gave this world to be 
Man then he formed, and formed him to be free. 
In his own image stampt the favourite race — 
How darest thou, tyrant, the fair stamp deface! 



I. "Poems," I, 271-82. 



144 ^^^ Spirit of the American Revolution 

When on mankind you fix your abject chains, 
No more the image of that God remains. 
O'er a dark scene a darker shade is drawn, 
His work dishonoured, and our glory gone! 

But alas! one cannot but recall that at the moment of 
writing, America still had men of color in the bondage of 
slavery. 

Unmistakable meaning we find in the following lines on 
the king, in which may be seen Freneau's aptness in se- 
lecting the epithet that stings: 

Kings are the choicest curse that man e'er knew! 
. . . your prince, of all bad men the worst! 

And then: 

In him we see the depths of baseness joined; 

Whate'er disgraced the dregs of human kind. 

Cain, Nimrod, Nero — fiends in human guise, 

Herod, Domitian — these in judgment rise, 

And, envious of his deeds, I hear them say 

None but a George could be more vile than they. 

Cool satire marks these, too: 

There, Loyals, there, with loyal hearts retire, 
There pitch your tents, and kindle there your fire; 

And with yourselves let John Burgoyne retire 
To reign the monarch, whom your hearts desire. 

Freneau's French sympathy and leaning are noticeable 
as when, after telling of the war and the efforts of our 
own to prosecute it to a successful issue, he speaks of how 



Two Critical Years 145 

the aid from abroad quickened in the British Ministry the 
wholesome sense of loss about to ensue and tended toward 
the dispatch of Howe in 1778 with overtures of peace. 
Freneau speaks of this as a forlorn hope: 

Yet shall not all your base dissembling art 
Deceive the tortures of a bleeding heart — 
Yet shall not all your mingled prayers that rise 
Wash out your crimes, or bribe the avenging skies. 

And he adds, alluding to the sad fate (discussed above, 
page 128) of Jane McCrea in central New York at the 
hands of the Indians, presumed by Americans of the period 
to have been inspired in their deed by the British: 

This deed alone our just revenge would claim, 
Did not ten thousand more your sons defame. 

"America Independent" is tediously long, of course, 
notwithstanding its better lines and frequent bold and 
forceful touches. It ends, too, rather weakly, with little 
of climax where one would expect a grand flourish and 
greater culmination of effect. Perhaps, the finest lines, in 
the whole work are the following, wherein the cumula- 
tive force of the first verse-paragraph is really effective: 

Far to the north, on Scotland's utmost end 
An isle there lies, the haunt of every friend, 
No shepherds there attend their bleating flocks, 
But withered witches rove among the rocks; 
Shrouded in ice, the blasted mountains show 
Their cloven heads, to daunt the seas below; 
The lamp of heaven in his dismal race 
There scarcely deigns to unveil his radiant face, 
Or if one day he circling treads the sky 



146 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

He views this island with an angry eye, 
Or ambient fogs their broad, moist wings expand. 
Damp his bright ray, and cloud the infernal land; 
The blackening winds incessant storms prolong, 
Dull as their night, and dreary as my song; 
Then from the dark sky drives the unpitying snow; 
When drifting snows from iron clouds forbear, 
Then down the hail-stones rattle through the air — 
There screeching owls, and screaming vultures rest, 
And not a tree adorns its barren breast; 
No peace, no rest, the elements bestow, 
But seas forever rage, and storms forever blow. 
There, Loyals, there, with loyal hearts retire. 
There pitch your tents, and kindle there your fire; 
There desert Nature will her stings display. 
And fiercest hunger on your vitals prey, 
And with yourselves let John Burgoyne retire 
To reign the monarch, whom your beasts admire. 

That America was gratified over the friendly attitude 
of France may be seen in a slight but significant way in 
the naming of a newly launched frigate the "Alliance" in 
the first months of 1778. It was one of the earliest con- 
cerns of the Continental Congress to build up the naval 
arm of the service and therewith to harass and cripple 
British trade and shipping, humiliate the proud "mistress 
of the seas" and devote to the patriot cause the supplies 
and munitions of war secured through capture and 
reprisal on the seas. Many and brilliant were the ex- 
ploits of the daring men who went down to the sea in 
ships and whose courageous and valorous deeds suffered 
no dimming in comparison with those of their brothers on 
the land. We hear little as a rule of these worthy salts ; the 
fame of a very few such as John Paul Jones seems to have 



Two Critical Years 147 

cast that of others into shadow. Still, in their day, their 
heroism was known and extolled. Inland and coastal 
waters and foreign shores alike saw our ships and felt 
their power. Patriots and events were honored in the names 
they bore — Lexington, Hancock, Franklin, Trumbull, 
etc. Singularly successful they often proved and few, in- 
deed, seem to have been those deeds which might dim 
their glory in our annals of the time and, to the last days 
of the conflict they continued alert and active.^ The 
bards were proud of their accomplishment and sang their 
praises worthily. Later on, in Chapter IX, we shall dis- 
cuss the victory, most memorable of all, off Flamborough 
Head. Suffice it here to quote Freneau's poem, 
"On the New American Frigate Alliance" which, as Pro- 
fessor Pattee^ affi'rms, "was the only one of our navy, of 
the class of frigates, which escaped capture or destruc- 
tion during the war. She was during the Revolution 
what "Old Ironsides" became in later years, the idol of 
the American people. She was in many engagem.ents and 
was always victorious." 

As Neptune traced the azure main 
That owned, so late, proud Britain's reign, 
A floating pile approached his car. 
The scene of terror and of war. 

As nearer still the monarch drew 
(Her starry flag displayed to view) 
He asked a Triton of his train 
"What flag was this that rode the main? 



I. See Maclay's "History of the Navy," I, 3-15 1. 
a. "Poems," I, 285, ft. 



148 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

"A ship of such a gallant mien 
"This many a day I have not seen, 
"To no mean power can she belong, 
"So swift, so warlike, stout and strong. 

"See how she mounts the foaming wave — 
"Where other ships would find a grave, 
"Majestic, aweful, and serene, 
"She sails the ocean, like its queen" — 

"Great monarch of the hoary deep, 
"Whose trident awes the waves to sleep, 
(Replied a Triton of his train) 
"This ship, that stems the western main, 

"To those new, rising States belongs, 
"Who, in resentment of their wrongs, 
"Oppose proud Britain's tyrant sway, 
"And combat her, by land and sea. 

"This pile, of such superior fame, 
"From their strict union takes her name, 
"For them she cleaves the briny tide, 
"While terror marches by her side. 

"When she unfurls her flowing sails, 
"Undaunted by the fiercest gales, 
"In dreadful pomp, she ploughs the main, 
"While adverse tempests rage in vain. 

"When she displays her gloomy tier, 
"The boldest foes congeal with fear, 
"And, owning her superior might, 
"Seek their best safety in their flight. 

"But when she pours the dreadful blaze, 
"And thunder from her cannon plays, 



Two Critical Years 149 

"The bursting flash that wings the ball, 
"Compels those foes to strike or fall. 

"Though she, with her triumphant crew, 
"Might to their fate all foes pursue, 
"Yet, faithful to the land that bore, 
"She stays, to guard her native shore. 

"Though she might make the cruisers groan 

"That sail within the torrid zone, 

"She kindly lends a nearer aid, 

"Annoys them here, and guards the trade. 

"Now, traversing the eastern main, 
"She greets the shores of France and Spain; 
"Her gallant flag, displayed to view, 
"Invites the old world to the new. 

"This task achieved, behold her go 
"To seas congealed with ice and snow, 
"To either tropic, and the line, 
"Where suns with endless fervour shine. 

"Not, Argo, on thy decks were found 
"Such hearts of brass, as here abound ; 
"They for their golden fleece did fly, 
"These sail — to vanquish tyranny." 



PART III 

FROM THE TREATY OF ALLIANCE 
TO THE PEACE OF 1783 



CHAPTER IX 

THE OLIVE BRANCH AND WAR OVERSEA 

General character of closing years — ''A Form of Pray- 
^r'' — Freneau, Barloiv and Trumbull — Three poems by 
Freneau — Rev. Wheeler Case — his "Answer for the 
Messengers of the Nation'— "The Dutch Song"— War 
on the seas — John Paul Jones — "The Yankee Man-of- 
War' — Freneau, again — "Captain Jones's Invitation" — 
"On the Memorable Victory" — Loyal verse — Rev. Jona- 
than Odell—"The Feu de Joie"—"The American Times" 
—"The Word of Congress" — Rev. John Wesley's 
"Hymn" — A savage attacfz in verse on the Loyalists. 

THE writings of the period following the treaty with 
France — the four or five years before the final 
peace of Paris, the three before the fall of York- 
town — were characterized like those of previous years by 
sharp thrusts of ridicule, invective and satire. It is no- 
ticeable, that little abatement appears on the part of those 
who have all along manifested an interest in the conflict 
and its outcome. The loyalists are loyal still, the patriots 
determined as ever in the past, and the kinsmen across the 
seas, as before, divided in their sympathies. On this last 
phase of the whole matter may be noted the title of an 
interesting pamphlet which was published in London in 
1778, ''By His Majesty's Special Command," and offered 
to the people, "A Form of Prayer, to be used in all the 
Churches and Chapels throughout that Part of Great 



154 ^^^ Spirit of the American Revolution 

Britain, called England, etc . . . upon Friday, the Tv/en- 
ty-Fourth of February next, being the Day appointed by 
Proclamation for a General Fast and Humiliation be- 
fore Almighty God, for obtaining Pardon for Our Sins, 
and for Averting those heavy Judgments, which our man- 
ifold Provocations have most justly deserved; and im- 
ploring His Blessing and Assistance on the Arms of His 
Majesty by Sea and Land, and for restoring and perpet- 
uating Peace, Safety, and Prosperity to Himself, and to 
His Kingdoms." One petition, as it has been pointed 
out, is of interest in particular, invoking the Divine aid to 
"restore tranquility among His [Majesty's] deluded sub- 
jects in America." 

By far the most voluminous and, as volume must al- 
ways be a thing of value in our appreciation of the verse 
of the time, by far the most important work was contrib- 
uted by Philip Freneau, though the effort of others was 
in less degree also great, — especially, that of Joel Bar- 
low^ whose opus magnum, "The Columbiad," was con- 
ceived during these years and that of John Trumbull" who 
produced in 1782 his completed "M'Fingal." Freneau's, 
however, was an almost untiring pen. The patriot poets, 
known and unknown, are of apiece with their precursors 
or their own earlier selves — noting down events as they 
occur, pillorying individuals like Benedict Arnold, pokinr^ 
fun at others like Cornwallis; sympathetic, too, with un- 
fortunates such as Andre, and glorifying, as usual, the 
heroes of their choice. 



1. See p. 66. 

2. See pp. 83, ff. 



The Olive Branch and War Oversea 155 

Three poems by Freneau will serve to indicate some- 
thing of the feeling met with at the time by the King's 
ministers and the futility awaiting their efforts to rees- 
tablish peace after Burgoyne's defeat and the treaty with 
France; the belief of some of the patriots (how wide- 
spread, it is of course quite impossible to determine) as to 
the supposedly real attitude of the British toward the Tor- 
ies; and the hostility in England toward the government's 
position throughout the struggle, particularly in the minds 
of men like Edmund Burke and Charles James Fox. 

"George the Third's Soliloquy" appeared^ in "The 
United States Magazine," and is quite lengthy, consisting 
of between forty and fifty heroic couplets. Its meaning is 
twofold, suggesting the confidence of the patriots and 
the possible state of the royal mind on receipt of the dis- 
couraging news from Saratoga and the Court of France. 
Mourns the king: 

My hopes and joys are vanished with my coin, 
My ruined army and my lost Burgoyne! 
What shall I do — confess my labours vain, 
Or whet my tusks, and to the charge again!" 

The poem, "Sir Harry's Invitation,"^ refers to the treat- 
ment, presumed or otherwise, by Sir Henry Clinton of 
the Tory refugees on his taking command at New York 
in the summer of 1777 and is quoted here to evidence the 
lingering feeling, deep in Freneau, toward them. It is a 
sarcastic ballad in four stanzas, the first and third of 
which will afford a taste of its flavor: 



1. May, 1779. See "Poems;" II, 3-6. 

2. Ibid., pp. 7-8. 



156 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Come, gentlemen Tories, firm, loyal and true, 
Here are axes and shovels, and something to do! 

For the sake of our king. 

Come, labour and sing; 
You left all you had for his honour and glory; 
And he will remember the suffering Tory: 

We have, it is true. 

Some small work to do; 

But here's for your pay 

Twelve coppers a day. 
And never regard what the rebels may say, 
But throw off your jerkins and labour away. 

Attend at the call of the fifer and drummer, 

The French and the Rebels are coming next summer. 

And forts we must build 

Though Tories are kill'd — 
Then courage, my jockies, and work for your king. 
For if you are taken no doubt you will swing 

If York we can hold 

I'll have you enroll'd; 

And after you're dead 

Your names shall be read 
As who for their monarch both labour'd and bled. 
And ventur'd their necks for their beef and their bread. 

A third poem, '*A Dialogue between His Britannic 
Majesty and Mr. Fox,"^ is over one hundred and twent}^- 
five couplets in length and appeared in the ''United States 
Magazine" in the last month of 1779. It gives the supposed 
impression made in England by Burgoyne's failure in New 
York, with Stony Point and other events suggested or 
dwelt upon. Opposition to the program outlined by the 
ministry was still rife and the author is lavish in such epi- 



l, "Poems;" II, 9-18. 



The Olive Branch and War Oversea 157 

thets as "a royal coward fills Britannia's throne," "a very 
idiot grown." Fox is made to intimate to the king the 
true course he should follow and the inevitable outcome 
of the conflict. The king opens the conversation with: 

Good master Fox, your counsel I implore, 

Still George the third, but potent George no more. 

By North conducted to the brink of fate, 

I mourn my folly and my pride too late: 

The promises lie made, when once we met 

In Kew's gay shades, I never shall forget. 

That at my feet the western w^orld should fall. 

And bow to me the potent lord of all — 

Curse on his hopes, his councils and his schemes. 

His plans of conquest, and his golden dreams. 

To which Fox replies: 

While in the arms of power and peace you lay. 
Ambition led your restless soul astray. 
Possessed of lands extending far and wide. 
And more than Rome could boast in all her pride, 
Yet, not contented with that mighty store, 
Like a true miser, still you sought for more ; 
And, all in raptures for a tyrant's reign. 
You strove your subjects' dearest rights to chain. 

He goes on to state the case and the present position of 
the king before the colonies. His final words include this 
advice : 

Implore the friendship of these injur'd States, 
No longer strive against the stubborn fates. 
Since heaven has doomed Columbia to be free, 
What is her commerce and her wealth to thee! 
Since heav'n that land of promise has deniec^ 
Regain by prudence what you lost by pride. 



158 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Another poet, one of the many obscure, though not 
therefore less pronounced in opinion or in feeling, may be 
cited and his work quoted in this connection. A minor 
bard was the Reverend Wheeler Case^ whose entire work, 
though small in quantity and slight in intrinsic value, 
should not be passed over in a study such as ours for we 
have therein the clerical viewpoint no less pronounced 
than the lay itself. The years of strife, indeed, witnessed 
sermons not a few and prayers, too, delivered and offered 
up before the God of battles. "An Answer for the Mes- 
sengers of the Nation" hardly needs further comment: its 
author's feeling on the question of peace is evident enough. 
It is worth while, however, to mention the fact that the 
work is something of a verse-sermon based on a text from 
Isaiah, the thirty-second verse of the fourteenth chapter: 
"What shall one then answer the Messengers of the Na- 
tion ? That the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of 
his people shall trust in it." 

When Messengers come from a foreign land, 
With peaceful branch of olive in their hand. 
If heart and hand unite, if both agree. 
From ill designs and all suspicion free, 
We'll then receive them in the arms of love; 
They are not men, but angels from above : 
Blessings like show'rs will on their souls descend; 
They're blessed in life, and blessed in their end; 
Peace like a river ne'er will cease to flow 
Thro' all their souls, while strangers here below. 
When they have done their work of peace and love. 
They'll then arise to mansions far above. 



See p. 124. 

"Revolutionary Memorials, embracing Poems," p. 40. 



The Olive Branch and War Oversea 159 

What e'er these heavenly messengers request, 

We'll surely grant to them, for it is best. 

What terms of peace they offer we'll receive, 

Such beings can't oppress, they will relieve; 

They'll hush the war to peace, they'll heal debates, 

And then declare us independent States. 

Our burdens they'll remove, our wrongs redress, 

Such characters as these can do no less. 

But if a diff'rent character they bear, 

And from the British court are come t' ensnare. 

If they'd the yoke of bondage take away. 

Lay it aside until a future day. 

When time and season serve, they best will know, 

Then send their plagues with a redoubled woe. 

If they have in view, we'll tell them then. 

They are not angels, but designing men. 

A fuller answer in my Text is given, 

It must be just, as it was sent from heaven. 

The Lord hath founded Zion, God the Just, 

In him his poor may safely put their trust. 

Oppression drove our fathers to this land, 
They all were guided by Jehovah's hand: 
Unto these pious souls, these heirs of heaven. 
Two eagle wings now from on high were given ; 
They put their trust in GOD, on him depend, 
They spread their wings and flew before the wind. 

We shall not pass to active strife without notice of 
**The Dutch Song," a poem in ten stanzas, reminding 
one of the metre of our national anthem, ''America," and 
appearing in the "Pennsylvania Packet" of Philadelphia, 
in 1779. In part, as follows: 

God save the Thirteen States! 
Long rule th' United States! 
God save our States! 



l6o The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Make us victorious; 
Happy and glorious; 
No tyrants over us; 
God save our States! 

To our fam'd Washington, 
Brave Stark at Bennington, 

Glory is due. 
Peace to Montgomery's shade, 
Who as he fought and bled, 
Drew honors round his head. 

Numerous as true. 

Come join your hands to ours; 
No royal blocks, no tow'rs; 

God save us all! 
Thus in our country's cause. 
And to support our laws; 
Our swords shall never pause 

At Freedom's call. 

O Lord! thy gifts in store. 
We pray on Congress pour, 

To guide our States. 
May union bless our land. 
While we, with heart and hand; 
Our mutual rights defend, 

God save our States! 

God save the Thirteen States! 
Long watch the prosp'rous fates 

Over our States! 
Make us victorious; 
Happy and glorious; 
No tyrants over us 

God save our States. 



The Olive Branch and War Oversea l6l 

The splendid victory of John Paul Jones over the Brit- 
ish off Flamborough Head on the glorious evening of 
September 23, 1779, justly filled Americans vv^ith pride 
and was the occasion for many a literary outburst. One 
poem, "The Yankee Man-of-War,"^ is a rather stirring 
sea-ballad, suggestive of its element and, as compared with 
much of the dreary waste of verse, far from meritless: 

'Tis of a gallant Yankee ship that flew the stripes and 

stars, 
And the whistling wind from the west-nor'-west blew 

through the pitch-pine spars; 
With her starboard tacks aboard, my boys, she hung upon 

the gale; 
On an autumn night we raised the light on the old Head 

of Kinsale. 

It was a clear and cloudless night, and the wind blew 

steady and strong, 
As gayly over the sparkling deep our good ship bowled 

along; 
With the foaming seas beneath her bow the fiery waves 

she spread. 
And bending low her bosom of snow, she buried her lee 

cat-head. 

There was no talk of short'ning sail by him who walked 

the poop, 
And under the press of her pond'ring jib, the boom bent 

like a hoop! 
And the groaning water-ways told the strain that held 

her stout main-tack, 
But he only laughed as he glanced aloft at a white and 

silvery track. 



I. Author unknown. See Stedman's "Anthology," pp. 8-9. 



1 62 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

The mid-tide meets in the Channel waves that flow from 
shore to shore, 

And the mist hung heavy upon the land from Feather- 
stone to Dunmore, 

And that sterling light in Tusker Rock where the old 
bell tolls each hour, 

And the beacon light that shone so bright was quench'd 
on Waterford Tower. 

What looms upon our starboard bow? What hangs upon 

the breeze? 
'Tis time our good ship hauled her wind abreast the old 

Saltees, 
For by her ponderous press of sail and by her consorts four 
We saw our morning visitor was a British man-of-war. 

Up spake our noble Captain then, as a shot ahead of us 

past — 
"Haul snug your flowing courses! lay your topsail to the 

mast !" 
Those Englishmen gave three loud hurrahs from the deck 

of their covered ark, 
And we answered back by a solid broadside from the 

decks of our patriot bark. 

"Out booms! out booms!" our shipper cried, "out booms 

and give her sheet," 
And the swiftest keel that was ever launched shot ahead 

of the British fleet, 
And midst a thundering shower of shot with stern-sails 

hoisting away, 
Down the North Channel Paul Jones did steer just at the 

break of day. 

The victory of John Paul Jones was the first really 
great event in American naval annals. We have not yet 
ceased to tell of this exploit or to sing the praises of the 



The Olive Branch and War Oversea 163 

victor. In a poem entitled, "Captain Jones' Invitation,"^ 
Freneau refers to the difficulty the commander experi- 
enced in securing his crew, a work which required several 
months and much entreaty. The recurring motive, "to 
the sea," is pleasing and suggestive, and there are ten six- 
line stanzas, marred at times by imperfect rhyme but, on 
the whole, rather worthy. Here are three of them: 

Thou, who on some dark mountain's brow 
Hast toll'd thy life away till now, 
And often from that rugged steep 
Beheld the vast extended deep. 
Come from thy forest, and with me 
Learn what it is to go to sea. 

There endless plains the eye survej^s 
As far from land the vessel strays; 
No longer hill or dale is seen, 
The realms of death intrude between, 
But fear no ill; resolve, with me 
To share the dangers of the sea. 

But look not there for verdant fields — 
Far different prospects Neptune yields; 
Green seas shall only greet the eye, 
Those seas encircled by the sky. 
Immense and deep — come then with me 
And view the wonders of the sea. 

Yet sometimes groves and meadows gay 
Delight the seamen on their way; 
From the deep seas that round us swell 
With rocks the surges to repel 
Some verdant isle, by waves embrac'd, 
Swells, to adorn the wat'ry waste. 



I. "Poems," p. 288. 



164 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Though now this vast expanse appear 
With glassy surface, calm and clear; 
Be not deceiv'd — 'tis but a show, 
For many a corpse is laid below — 
Even Britain's lads — it cannot be — 
They were the masters of the sea. 

Now combating upon the brine, 

Where ships in flaming squadrons join, 

At every blast the brave expire 

'Midst clouds of smoke, and streams of fire; 

But scorn all fear; advance with me — 

'Tis but the custom of the sea. 

Now we the peaceful wave divide, 
On broken surges now we ride, 
Now every eye dissolves with woe 
As on some leeward coast we go — 
Half lost, half buried in the main 
Hope scarcely beams on life again. 

Above us storms distract the sky. 
Beneath us depths unfathom'd lie. 
Too near we see, a ghastly sight. 
The realms of everlasting night, 
A wat'ry tomb of ocean green 
And only one frail plank between! 

But winds must cease, and storms decay. 
Not always lasts the gloomy day, 
Again the skies are warm and clear. 
Again soft zephyrs fan the air. 
Again we find the long lost shore, 
The winds oppose our wish no more. 

If thou hast courage to despise 
The various changes of the skies, 



The Olive Branch and tVar Oversea 165 

To disregard the ocean's rage, 
Unmov'd when hostile ships engage, 
Come from thy forest, and with me 
Learn what it is to go to sea. 

Two years later,^ Freneau published in Francis Bai- 
ley's 'Treeman's Journal" another poem commemorative of 
the same event, entitled, ''On the Memorable Victory Ob- 
tained by the gallant Captain Paul Jones, of the 'Good 
Man Richard,' over the 'Serapis,' etc., under the com- 
mand of Captain Pearson." It is decidedly inferior to 
much of the author's work, not in any sense poetic, merely 
twenty-one six-line stanzas, labored and strained in 
thought and expression. Not a word is there in any line 
suggestive of the glories, as tradition has it, of the sky 
and the sea on that night of battle, the twenty-third of 
September, 1779. We hear an echo of Tom Paine in the 
eleventh stanza: 

But thou, brave Jones, no blame shalt bear; 
The rights of man demand thy care; 

By far the finest of the stanzas are the concluding two 
wherein is exemplified Freneau's ability in the use of 
apostrophe and allusion. The poet advises : 

Go on, great man, to daunt the foe, 
And bid the haughty Britons know 

They to our Thirteen Stars shall bend; 
The stars that, veil'd in dark attire. 
Long glimmer'd with a feeble fire, 

But radiant now ascend ; 



I. August, 1781. "Poems;" II, 75-80. "The first poem 
contributed by Freneau to the Freeman's Journal. It appeared 
August 8, 1781." (Pattee). 



1 66 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Bend to the Stars that flaming rise — 
In western, not in eastern, skies. 

Fair Freedom's reign restor'd. 
So when the Magi, come from far, 
Beheld the God-attending Star, 

They trembled and ador'd. 

Loyalists, too, showed their spirit on occasion as we see 
in many a ballad and line issued from the loyal press of 
the land. In Rivington's "Royal Gazette,"^ for example, 
there appeared a poem attributed^ to the Reverend Doctor 
Odell,^ entitled ''The Feu de Joie: a Poem," and running 
on for nearly two long columns. It is a jubilant piece ex- 
pressing the joy felt in New York over the success of the 
king's arms in the South. Here are the closing lines: 

Let songs of triumph every voice employ, 
And every muse discharge a feu de joie! 
Ye poor deluded owners of the soil. 
For others' good who labour and who toil — 
Ye wretches doom'd to sorrowful mistakes. 
Who hunger and who thirst for Congress' sake — 
Arouse for shame: like men your rights resume. 
And send your tyrants to the land of gloom. 
If shame prevail not, still let wisdom plead, 
If both are slighted, vengeance must succeed. 
Your parent state grows stronger every hour; 
As yet, its mercy far exceeds its power. 
Your Congress every moment weaker grows; 
Rags are its treasure: honest men, its foes. 



1. November 24, 1779. 

2. By Winthrop Sargent in "Loyal Verses," though one 
finds no name subscribed in the "Royal Gazette." 

3. See pp. Ill, ff. 



The Olive Branch and War Oversea 167 

Its building cracks, tho' buttress'd by the Gaul; 

It nods; it shakes, it totters to its fall. 

O save yourselves before it is too late! 

O save your country from impending fate! 

Leave those whom justice must at length destroy, 

Repent, come over, and partake our joy. 

Of all the Tory poets the Reverend Jonathan Odell^ 
was unquestionably the most important, if length of words 
and sternness thereof are counted in his favor. In his 
"The American Times," the whole rebel-band of generals 
come before him to meet ruthless slaughter by his pen. It 
is a poem of about nine hundred lines and was written 
toward the close of the war. A quotation will suggest its 
quality. After paying his respects to Adams, Wayne, and 
others, the reverend loyalist apostrophizes Washington: 

Was it ambition, vanity, or spite, 
That prompted thee with Congress to unite; 
Or did all three within thy bosom roll, 
"Thou heart of hero with a traitor's soul"? 
Go, wretched author of thy country's grief, 
Patron of villainy, of villains chief. 

In another work by Odell, "The Word of Congress," 
printed in Rivington's "Royal Gazette" in 1779, we find 
these lines on the Reverend George Duffield, a chaplain 
of Congress, and incidentally on that body itself: 

A Saint of old, as learned monks have said, 
Preach'd to the Fish — the Fish his voice obey'd. 
The same good man conven'd the grunting herd. 
Who bow'd obedient to his pow'rful word. 



I. See pp. 1 1 2- 1 3 for biographical comment. 



1 68 'J^he Spirit of the American Revolution 

Such energy had truth, in days of yore; 
Falsehood and nonsense, in our days, have more. 

It pleas'd Saint Anthony to preach to brutes; 
To preach to Devils best with Duffield suits. 

A poem, reputed to be by the Reverend John Wesley, 
dated late in the struggle and entitled, "Hymn for the 
Loyal Americans," is worthy a place: 

Father of everlasting love, 
The only refuge of despair, 

The men who dared their King revere, 
And faithful to their Oaths abide, 

Midst perjur'd Hypocrites sincere, 
Harass'd, oppress'd on every side; 

Gaul'd by the Tyrant's iron yoke, 

By Britain's faithless sons forsook, 

As sheep appointed to be slain. 

The victims of fidelity. 
To man they look for help in vain; 

But shall they look in vain to Thee, 
God over all, who canst subdue 
The hearts which mercy never knew? 

Those who favored the king, however, were, indeed, 
sore let and hindered in the course they were pursuing. 
This is apparent not alone from the harsh laws passed 
and executed but from some of the verse that appeared 
from time to time. The year after the treaty of alliance, 
a savage attack upon them was published^ in Philadelphia, 



I. "The Loyalists," Anon., in "The United States Maga- 
zine," July, 1779. 



The Olive Branch and War Oversea 169 

pleading for their banishment. For "they are from Satan's 
den" and the only way open to the patriots is to "blast 
them to the shades below." 

When Britain homeward calls her humbled train, 
Say shall our traitors in these lands remain, 
Who now, even now, assail your roofs with fire, 
And captive lead the children and the fire? 

Ah no, expel them from the ravag'd shore; 
Far, far remove them to return no more. 
To scorch'd Bahama let the traitors go. 
With grief and rage and unremitting woe; 
On burning sands to walk their painful round, 
And sigh thro' all the solitary ground, 
Where no gay flower their haggard eyes may see, 
And find no shade but from the cypress tree. 



CHAPTER X 
1780 

Charleston and Camden — The patriotic women — their 
efforts — the bards thereon — "Our Women' — Discovery 
of the treachery of Benedict Arnold — the traitor s early 
life and service — at Philadelphia — his conduct there — the 
reprimand — negotiations with Clinton — Major John An- 
dre's mission — its failure — Major Tallmadge — Andre's 
trial and execution as a spy — Wide interest in the treason 
episode — the three captors — character of Andre — "Mon- 
ody" by Miss Seward — Freneau's "The Spy" — execra- 
tion visited upon Arnold — "Arnold's Departure" — the 
traitor s later life. 

British prison-ships — Freneau's experience — the hospi- 
tal-ships — "The British Prison Ships" by Freneau — David 
Humphreys's lines — what authorities have to say on these 
ships. 

The war in the South — Cornwallis — Greene — Marion, 
Sumter, and Pickens. 

THE year, 1780, was of all the later years of the 
Revolution by far the most discouraging. Only 
strong, brave hearts could bear up under the trying 
difficulties, military and financial, w^hich beset them on 
every side. Clinton had begun operations in the Carolinas 
in the hope of eventually destroying the patriot cause in 
the South. Lincoln held Charleston but overwhelming 

170 



lySo 171 

odds soon forced his surrender and the capture of his army 
of over two thousand. Later, at Camden, General Gates, 
of Saratoga fame, suffered a humiliating defeat hardly 
less disastrous than Lincoln's at Charleston. Later still, 
the startling revelation of base deceit and wicked treach- 
ery stirred men to the depths. But before passing to the 
treason episode let us pause to note the splendid activity 
of the patriotic women in their very practical work in the 
army's behalf. There were, as we have noted, women in 
the colonies who took up their pens in the cause their 
brothers were fighting for but there were other women 
who rendered even more valuable aid with their needles 
and evidenced that tireless energy which is born of devo- 
tion. 

An interesting account of the encouraging efforts of 
Philadelphia's womanhood will be found in volume two 
of the life of General Joseph Reed, president of the exec- 
utive counsel of Pennsylvania. The ladies of Pennsyl- 
vania and New Jersey laid plans to raise by voluntary 
subscription supplies in money and clothing sufficient 
for the needs of Washington's army. Mrs. Reed, wife of 
General Reed, headed the ladies' association and had per- 
formed her service with energy and success when she died 
in the midst of her labor. She was succeeded by Mrs. 
Sarah Bache, daughter of Benjamin Franklin. In a let- 
ter to Washington, dated July 4, 1780, Mrs. Reed wrote: 
"The amount of the subscription is 200,680 dollars, and 
£625 6s. 8d. in specie, which makes in the whole in paper 
money 300,634 dollars." Allowing for the very great 
depreciation of the currency at the time, one cannot but be 
impressed with the results as set forth. There were over 



172 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

1600 contributors and "all ranks of society seem to have 
united," the Marchioness of Lafayette giving "one hun- 
dred guineas in specie." At Washington's suggestion the 
money was spent for material out of which the ladies 
promised to make over two thousand shirts for the sol- 
diers. Mrs. Bache graciously writing the commander-in- 
chief the day after Christmas: "We wish them to be worn 
with as much pleasure as they were made," and Washing- 
ton could hardly appear in better light than in his letter 
of acknowledgment of the 13th of the following Febru- 
ary: "The army ought not to regret their sacrifices or suf- 
ferings, when they meet with so flattering a reward as 
the sympathy of your sex; nor can they fear that their in- 
terests will be neglected, while espoused by advocates as 
powerful as they are amiable. I can only answer to the 
sentiments, which you do me the honour to express for me 
personally, that they would more than repay a life devoted 
to the service of the public and to testimonies of gratitude 
to yourselves." 

Such service was not unrecognized by the bards for as 
we have learned^ their voices were raised not infrequently 
in praise of devotion signally expressed. Witness the fol- 
lowing lines from a poem entitled, "Our Women": 

And now ye sister angels of each state. 
Their honest bosoms glow with joy elate. 
Their gallant hearts with gratitude expand 
And trebly feel the bounties of your hand. 

And wing'd for you their benedictions rise, 
Warm from the soul and grateful to the skies ! 

I, See p. 137. 



lySo 173 

Nor theirs alone th' historian patriots fir'd, 
Shall bless the generous virtue you've inspir'd. 

Invent new epithet to warm their page, 
And bid you live admired from age to age; 
With sweet applauses dwell on every name, 
Endear your memories and embalm your fame, 

And thus the future bards shall soar sublime, 
And waft you glorious down the streams of time; 
The breeze of panegyric fill each sail, 
And plaudits pure perfume the increasing gale. 

Then freedom's ensign thus inscribed shall wave, 
"The patriot females who their country save"; 
Till time's abyss absorb'd in heavenly lays 
Shall flow in your eternity of praise.^ 

In September, the entire country was stirred by the 
thwarting of one of the most careful of plans vengefuUy 
to surrender a fortification to the enemy. Hardly could 
any event move men in a more peculiarly solemn way. 
Valued and valiant fighter in the patriot cause, notable 
alike for his daring and ability, Benedict Arnold revealed 
himself in a manner hitherto undreamed of. His earlier 
exploits at Quebec, at Valcour Island, and at Bemis's 
Heights had displayed a heroism which made him a trust- 
ed companion-in-arms and would have passed his name on 
to later times, honored and treasured with Washington's 
and Greene's. 

Arnold was a native of Norwich, Connecticut, and now 
in the very prime of life. His earlier manhood saw him 



I. See Moore: "Songs and Ballads," pp. 296-298. There are 
ten stanzas in all, of which those quoted are the latter five. 



174 ^^^ Spirit of the American Revolution 

a drug clerk but the appeal to arms in 1775 brought him 
to Cambridge and the side of the newly appointed com- 
mander-in-chief. His bold tactics on the field and his fideli- 
ty to the cause had won for him the confidence of his chief. 
Wounded during the closing actions of the Burgoyne 
campaign, Arnold had been relieved of active duty and 
placed in command of Philadelphia the following year, 
1778, upon the evacuation of that city by the British. 
There his conduct was hardly above censure, ill-befitting 
an officer of his rank, and reckless of his own and of his 
country's interest. His presence as host or guest at din- 
ner with those either unsympathetic or hostile to the 
country he served was naturally heralded as more than 
indiscreet. His marriage to a young woman of Tory 
family, while a private afifair, was nevertheless sympto- 
matic of a change of heart. An official reprimand was 
finally ordered by Congress and was in due course admin- 
istered by General Washington. Arnold's temperamental 
weakness soon showed itself. It has been urged in exten- 
uation of his future action that he had been the victim of 
unwarranted treatment on the part of Congress, not re- 
ceiving at its hands the rewards which were his due for 
valiant service and zealous devotion. The honorable 
thing to do would have been what others did from 
time to time in somewhat similarly trying circumstances — 
to resign his commission and seek vindication at the bar of 
public opinion. As it was, Arnold took the most unwise 
of possible courses for almost immediately he turned to 
the dark and subterranean channels of illicit communica- 
tion with the enemy, intriguing with Clinton, the Brit- 
ish commander at New York, and bargaining for gold and 



iTSo 175 

an army commission to surrender the fortification at West 
Point so great in strategic importance and to which com- 
mand Arnold had been assigned. 

In the late summer of 1780 negotiations had been un- 
derway long enough to bring them shortly to an end when 
all should be in readiness for the pacific yielding of the 
stronghold. A young adjutant-general in the king's ser- 
vice, Major John Andre, who had been Arnold's corres- 
pondent, was dispatched personally to interview the Amer- 
ican general and to receive from his hand the all-important 
papers — plans and specifications of inestimable worth — 
v.^hich would lend the confidence desired to any expedition 
of feigned attack upon West Point. Andre had ascertded 
the Hudson on board the "Vulture" but his return was, 
unexpectedly, by land for the warship had been obliged 
to drop down-stream because of the hostile attitude of 
American gunners along the shore. It was on this journey 
back and in disguise that the young officer was hailed and 
stopped on the road near Tarrytown by three patriot sol- 
diers who, on searching him, disclosed his true character. 
Military trial followed his removal first to West Point 
and then to headquarters at Tappan, some thirty miles 
south. It is interesting in passing to mention the fact that 
the American in charge of the party conducting Andre to 
Tappan was a Major Tallmadge, a classmate of Nathan 
Hale at Yale.^ The trial of the young spy, for so his 
status was interpreted, resulted in a recommendation that 



I. For an account of this, Andre's last journey, see Abbatt: 
"The Crisis of the Revolution," p. 54, and the published me- 
moir of Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, pp. 132-138, edited by 
Professor H. P. Johnston, in 1904, for the Society of the Sons 
of the Revolution in New York. 



176 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

he be hanged, a verdict which Washington confirmed and 
ordered, finally, put into effect on the second of October. 
Arnold made good his escape none too soon and entered 
into the British service wherein he secured for himself 
and his name all the obloquy and scorn which have since 
been associated therewith in American annals. 

The tragic episode of Andre and Arnold has been given 
the space in this chapter in such proportion as it has as- 
sumed since in the public mind. Washington himself 
seems to have been touched by the fate of the young adju- 
tant even though he thought it unwise to reverse the 
judgment of the court. The three plain militiamen, An- 
dre's captors, were recipients of honors and rewards at the 
hands of Congress and have not since been forgotten. To 
the president of congress Washington himself reported 
under date of September 26, 1780: "I have now the 
pleasure to communicate the names of the three persons 
who captured Major Andre, and who refused to release 
him, notwithstanding the most earnest importunities and 
assurances of a liberal reward on his part. Their names 
are, John Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac Van 
Wart."i 

To the extent that Arnold's name has been execrated 
Andre's has been remembered with pity. Major Tall- 
madge could write. "I will . . . remark, that for the few 
days of intimate intercourse I had with him, which was 
from the time of his being brought back to our head-quar- 
ters to the day of his execution, I became so deeply at- 
tached to Major Andre, that I can remember no instance 



I. See "Writings of George Washington," ed. by W. C. 
Ford. 



jjSo 177 

where my affections were so fully absorbed in any man."^ 
A young lady in England, Miss Anna Seward, who seems 
to have been a friend of Andre's family and to have been 
much attached to the young man himself, composed what 
she entitled, "A Monody," and published in nearly two 
hundred couplets. Her estimate of General Washington 
for his condemnation of her friend follows: 

O Washington! I thought thee great and good. 
Nor knew thy Nero-thirst of guiltless blood! 
Severe to use the pow'r that Fortune gave. 
Thou cool determin'd Murderer of the Brave! 

Remorseless Washington! the day shall come 
Of deep repentance for this barb'rous doom ! 
When injur'd Andre's memory shall inspire 
A kindling Army with resistless fire; 
Each falchion sharpen that the Britons wield, 
And lead their fiercest Lion to the field! 
Then, when each hope of thine shall set in night, 
When dubious dread, and unavailing flight 
Impel your Host, thy guilt-upbraided Soul 
Shall wish untouch'd the sacred Life you stole! 
And why thy Heart appall'd, and vanquish'd Pride 
Shall vainly ask the mercy they deny'd. 
With horror shalt thou meet the fate they gave. 
Nor Pity gild the darkness of thy grave! 
For Infancy, with livid hand, shall shed 
Eternal mildew on the ruthless head!^ 

Freneau expressed himself upon the whole affair in sev- 
eral poems. An unfinished dramatic piece entitled, "The 



1. "Memoir," p. 57. 

2. See vol. II, pp. 68-88, of Miss Seward's collected works. 



178 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Spy," we shall take up first.^ There are three acts — eight 
scenes — and the cast Includes with others, Sir Henry Clin- 
ton, Major Andre, Arnold, and two female characters, 
Lucinda and Amelia. The work is in blank verse and 
prose and would not lead any one to regret that its author 
never finished it. In the opening scene laid at West Point, 
two servants at their work In a garden discuss such signs 
of the times as : Tory plans, Arnold's sneers at his broth- 
er officers, etc. Another scene Is taken up with an inter- 
view at New York between Sir Henry and the young ad- 
jutant. Freneau pays his respects to Arnold in these 
words of Andre: 

O Britain, Britain, 
That one descended from thy true-born sons 
Should plot against the soil that gave him birth, 
And for the value of a little gold 
Betray its dearest rights. 

But Traitors are the growth of every country 
And Arnold is our own! 

In Act II, Scene I, Arnold thus soliloquizes: 

This Is the time for dark and dangerous action; 
This Is the time that thieves and murderers choose 
To execute their desperate designs. 
But art thou, Arnold, less than murderer. 
Who thus prepare to stab thy bleeding country? 
And can I then descend to be a traitor ! 
By honest toils a name have I acquired. 
Great and unequalled In the rolls of fame ; 
And shall that name to infamy be doomed 
By one base act that mars and cankers all? 



I. "Poems," II, 39-72. 



17S0 179 

Thus debating and philosophizing, he comes to a deci- 
sion and remarks; / 

Born were we all, subjected to a king 

And that subjection must return again. 

The people are not dull republicans; 

By nature they incline to monarchy. 

How glorious should I be to have a share 

In bringing back my country to allegiance. 

Can France uphold them in their proud demand, 

That race of puny, base, perfidious dogs? 

Sooner shall all the house of Bourbon sink 

Their Rochambault, D'Estang and La Fayette, 

And Spain confederate cease to be a nation. 

And all their allies dwindle into atoms. 

Ere Britain will withdraw her righteous claim 

Or yield a jot her dominion here 

To any people living. Then, Andre, come. 

The sooner Britain gains this fort the better. 

The second scene of Act II is a parlor scene in prose, 
wherein Major Andre and Lucinda hold their last con- 
versation and heart and spirit of the ill-fated young officer 
are cheered by the melody of the loved one's song — five 
eight-line stanzas all informing us of an Englishman's 
loyalty and sense of duty and closing with a prophetic 
word of the fate to be. After singin z to please her lover, 
Lucinda sings to please herself. Her song of four qua- 
trains in amphibrachs, suggestive of Thomas Moore, is 
wholly prophetic and Andre quite clearly perceives its 
meaning. At the entrance of Sir Henry Clinton the 
young lady withdraws, not to appear again save for a 
moment's parting at the close of the act. 

The young major is given his orders, "on an eagle's 



l8o The Spirit of the American Revolution 

wings to Arnold haste," and besides the main object of his 
mission, secure, if possible, the apprehension of "the great 
Americ chief." 

He is the soul. 
The great upholder of this long contention. 
I dread his prudence and his courage more 
Than all the armies that the Congress raise, 
Than all the troops or all the ships of France. 

Act III of "The Spy" need not be dealt with in any 
great detail. Scene I is in "Robinson's House" on a 
stormy night. Arnold, in expectant mood, awaits Andre's 
coming and is not disappointed. Their conversation deals 
in prose with the objects of the British mission, not omit- 
ting the parting injunction of the commander to secure 
the person of General Washington. The scene closes with 
Andre's happy thought as to the concealment in his boot 
of the papers to be conveyed to Clinton. The second 
scene serves merely as a side-light on the conditions — the 
hopes and fears and rumors of subordinate officers who ap- 
parently have heard an echo or two of the contemplated 
treason and, in the endeavor to check the recently discov- 
ered intercourse between "the disaffected and the foe," are 
arming peasants for patrol purposes. Following, we see 
these peasants "in an outhouse" wondering whither their 
orders will send them and beguiling the time with song. 
The final scene, as Freneau left his drama, informs us of 
the rude awakening as to Arnold's scheming : 

This traitor Arnold, this vile, abandoned traitor, 
This monster of ingratitude unequalled, 
Has been conspiring with an English spy 
To render up the fort to General Clinton. 



lySo i8i 

Freneau will not let the traitor remain in oblivion for, 
two years after the treason-episode, we read in a poem, 
"Arnold's Departure,"^ seven stanzas in length: 

With evil omens from the harbour sails 

The ill-fated barque that worthless Arnold bears, — 
God of the southern winds, call up the gales, 

And whistle in rude fury round his ears! 

With horrid waves insult his vessel's sides, 
And may the east wind on a leeward shore 

Her cables part while she in tumult rides, 
And shatter into shivers every oar! 

And let the north wind to her ruin haste, 

With such a rage, as when from mountains high 

He rends the tall oak with his weighty blast. 
And ruin spreads where'er his forces fly! 

The reference is to Arnold's sailing for England in 
December after the surrender of Cornwallis. The form- 
er American general found himself a social no less than a 
political exile abroad. His life following his crime was 
far, indeed, from happy in the deeper sense and the ap- 
proach of death cast shadows before it, clouding the end 
in bitter memories. 

During the long struggle of the colonies there was deep- 
ly impressed upon the imagination of the people the con- 
duct of certain British prison-ships lying in and about the 
harbor waters of New York City. In his eventful life, 
Freneau experienced incarceration in one of these. While 



I. "Poems:" II, 103. 



1 82 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

on board ship bound south in the spring of 1780 he was 
captured with the crew and other passengers and returned 
to New York City to be confined in the "Scorpion", one 
of 

These Prison-Ships where pain and horror dwell, 
Where death in tenfold vengeance holds his reign, 
And injur'd ghosts, yet unaveng'd, complain. 

Later, he was transferred to a hospital-ship where he lan- 
guished for some time. Upon his release, Freneau wrote 
of his experiences, observations, and impressions in a very 
bitter yet brilliant and vivid poem^ in three cantos of 
some four hundred couplets. There are touches, here and 
there, of word painting and imagery, and the poem is rich 
in choice satire and invective with the genuine Freneau 
point. 

Canto I bears the title, "The Capture," and is pre- 
faced by these four lines which serve fittingly to introduce 
the reader to the spirit of the whole work : 

Amid these ills no tyrant dared refuse 
My right to pen the dictates of the muse. 
To point the terrors of the infernal place. 
And fiends from Europe, insolent as base. 

Speaking of the ship "Aurora" in which he had em- 
barked "outward bound, to St. Eustatia's shore," Fre- 
neau records the workmanship that went to her making : 

From Philadelphia's crowded port she came; 
For there the builder plann'd her lofty frame. 



I. "The British Prison-Ship. Written 1780;" "Poems/' II, 
18-39- 



17 8o 183 

With wond'rous skill, and excellence of art 
He form'd, dispos'd, and order'd every part, 
With jo3^ beheld the stately fabric rise 
To a stout bulwark of stupendous size, 
'Till launched at last, capacious of the freight, 
He left her to the Pilots, and her fate. 

Out of the Delaware to the open sea the ship "seaward 
spread her sails" and headed south, when. 

Too soon the Seaman's glance, extending wide, 
Far distant in the east a ship espy'd. 

From her top-gallant flow'd an English Jack; 
With all her might she strove to gain our track. 
Nor strove in vain — with pride and power elate, 
Wing'd on by hell, she drove us to our fate; 
No stop, no stay, her bloody crew intends, 
(So flies a comet with his host of fiends) 
Nor oaths, nor prayers, arrest her swift career, 
Death in her front, and ruin in her rear. 

The enemy proved to be the frigate "Iris," once the 
"Hancock,"^ built on "New Albion's shore." Over- 
hauled, the "Aurora" sought the shore but 

In vain we sought to reach the joyless strand, 
Fate stood between, and barr'd us from the land; 

All dead becalm'd, and helpless as we lay. 
The ebbing current forc'd us back, to sea, 
While vengeful Iris, thirsting for our blood, 
Flash'd her red lightnings o'er the trembling flood; 
At every flash a storm of ruin came 
'Till our shock'd vessel shook through all her frame — 



I. See p. 147, above. 



184 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

A gallant return fire, though all in vain, shot forth from 
the luckless "Aurora." 

But how unequal was this daring flight! 

Our stoutest guns threw but a six pound ball, 

Twelve pounders from the foe our sides did maul, 

The lofty topsails with their yards descend. 
And the proud foe, such leagues of ocean pass'd, 
His wish completed in our woe at last. 

Convey'd to York, we found, at length, too late, 
That Death was better than the prisoner's fate; 
There doom'd to famine, shackles and despair, 
Condemn'd to breathe a foul, infected air 
In sickly hulks, devoted while we lay. 
Successive funerals gloom'd each dismal day 
But what on captives British rage can do, 
Another Canto, friend, shall let you know. 

The next hundred couplets essay the portrayal in high 
colors of the horrors of the poet's two months' confine- 
ment on board the "Scorpion." Freneau declares: 

Weak as I am, I'll try my strength today 
And my best arrows at these hell-hounds play, 
To future years one scene of death prolong. 
And hang them up to infamy, in song. 

No mincing of words with Freneau, — he speaks as he 
feels constrained — the bitterest words seem hardly bitter 
enough for his purpose. The rotten hulk lay in the 
river, so old that 

Scarce on the waters she sustain'd her bones. 
Burned by the scorching sun by day and stifled by the foul 



lySo 185 

air at night, three hundred wretched prisoners spent their 
time as best they might. The misery of the long hours 
after dark is particularly vivid : 

When to the ocean dives the western sun, 
And the scorch'd Tories fire their evening gun, 
"Down, rebels, down!" the angry Scotchmen cry, 
"Damn'd dogs, descend, or by our broad swords die!" 

Some for a bed their fetter'd vestments join, 
And some on chests, and some on floors recline; 
Shut from the blessings of the evening air. 
Pensive we lay with mingled corpses there. 
Meagre and wan, and scorch'd with heat below. 
We loom'd like ghosts, ere death had made us so — 
How could we else, where heat and hunger join'd 
Thus to debase the body and the mind, 
Where cruel thirst the parching throat invades, 
Dries up the man, and fits him for the shades. 

The following six lines sum up the long and weary 
weeks : 

Hunger and thirst to work our woe combine. 
And mouldy bread, and flesh of rotten swine, 
The mangled carcase, and the batter'd brain, 
The doctor's poison, and the captain's cane, 
The soldier's musquet, and the steward's debt, 
The evening shackle, and the noon-day threat. 

Finally, the strain told heavily upon the prisoner and, 
as he tells us in the last lines of Canto H : 

My name was enter'd on the sickman's list; 
Twelve wretches more the same dark symptoms took, 
And these were enter'd on the doctor's book; 



1 86 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

The loathsome Hunter was our destln'd place, 

TTie Hunter, to all hospitals disgrace; 

With soldiers sent to guard us on our road, 

Joyful we left the Scorpions dire abode; 

Some tears we shed for the remaining crew, 

Then curs'd the hulk, and from her sides withdrew. 

And now, the closing canto, wherein existence, hardly 
life, is depicted aboard this ''slaughter-house, yet hospital 
in name." If Freneau is bitter in his description of his 
days in the "Scorpion," his words on men, things and con- 
ditions aboard the "Hunter" are acid itself. Significant of 
the future was his welcome by the ship's mate, 

That wretch who, banish'd from the navy crew, 
Grown old in blood, did here his trade renew; 
His serpent's tongue, when on his charge let loose, 
Utter'd reproaches, scandal, and abuse, 
Gave all to hell who, dar'd his king disown, 
And swore mankind were made for George alone. 
Ten thousand times, to irritate our woe, 
He wish'd us founder'd in the gulph below ; 
Ten thousand times he brandish'd high his stick, 
And swore as often that we were not sick — 

He pointed to the stairs that led below 

To damps, disease, and varied shapes of woe — 

Down to the gloom I took my pensive way, 

Along the decks the dying captives lay; 

Some struck with madness, some with scurvy pain'd. 

But still of putrid fevers most complain'd! 

Of satire and invective, a better passage — ^which we 
shall quote at length — may hardly be found than this re- 
ferring to the ship's doctors: 



lySo 187 

From Brookland groves a Hessian doctor came, 
Not great his skill, nor greater much his fame ; 
Fair science never call'd the wretch her son, 
And art disdain'd the stupid man to own ; — 
Can you admire that Science was so coy. 
Or Art refus'd his genius to employ? — 
Do men with brutes an equal dullness share, 
Or cuts yon grovelling mole the midway air? 
In polar worlds can Eden's blossoms blow? 
Do trees of God in barren deserts grow? 
Are loaded vines to Etna's summit known, 
Or revells the peach beneath the torrid zone 
Yet still he doom'd his genius to the rack. 
And, as you may suppose, was own'd a quack. 

He on his charge the healing work begun 
With antimonial mixtures, by the tun, 
Ten minutes was the time he deign'd to stay, 
The time of grace allotted once a day — 
He drencht us well with bitter draughts 'tis true. 
Nostrums from hell, and cortex from Peru — 
Some with his pills he sent to Pluto's reign. 
And some he blister'd with his flies of Spain. 
His cream of Tartar walk'd its deadly round, 
Till the lean patient at the potion frown'd. 
And swore that hemlock, death or what you will, 
Were nonsense to the drugs that stufiE'd his bill. 
On those refusing he bestow'd a kick. 
Or menac'd vengeance with his walking stick; 
Here uncontroul'd he exercis'd his trade, 
And grew experienced by the deaths he made ; 
By frequent blows we from his cane endur'd 
He kill'd at least as many as he cur'd; 
On our lost comrades built his future fame. 
And scatter'd fate, where'er his footsteps came. 
Some did not seem obedient to his will, 
And swore he mingled poison with his pill; 
But I acquit him by a fair confession, 



1 88 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

He was no Englishman — he was a Hessian. 
Although a dunce, he had some sense of sin, 
Or else the Lord knows where we now had been; 
Perhaps in that far country sent to range 
Where never prisoner meets with an exchange — 
Then had we all been banish'd out of time 
Nor I return'd to plague the world with rhyme. 
Fool though he was yet candour must confess 
Not chief Physician was this dog of Hesse — 
One master o'er the murdering tribe was plac'd 
By him the rest were honour'd or disgrac'd ; — 
Once, and but once, by some strange fortune led 
He came to see the dying and the dead — 
He came — but anger so deform'd his eye. 
And such a faulchion glitter'd on his thigh, 
And such a gloom his visage darken'd o'er, 
And two such pistols in his hands he bore ! 
That, by the gods! — with such a load of steel 
He came, we thought to murder, not to heal — 
Hell in his heart, and mischief in his head. 
He gloom'd destruction, and had smote us dead, 
Had he so dar'd — but fate with-held his hand — 
He came — blasphem'd — and turn'd again to land. 

After hardly less venomous epithets hurled at the cap- 
tain who "swore, till every prisoner stood aghast," and no 
measured terms in noting the horrors of the daily fare "so 
black, corrupted, mortified and lean," Freneau moves on 
to the care of the prison dead: 

Each day, at least three carcases we bore, 
And scratch'd them graves along the sandy shore; 
By feeble hands the shallow graves were made, 
No stone memorial o'er the corpses laid; 
In barren sands, and far from home, they lie, 
No friend to shed a tear, when passing by; 



lySo 189 

O'er the mean tombs' insulting Brftons tread, 
Spurn at the sand, and curse the rebel dead. 

"The British Prison-Skip" closes here the actual de- 
scription of the long incarceration, though twenty-five 
couplets are added supplicating Americans decently to en- 
tomb the bones of their patriots who have gone before and 
never to forget the days of suffering, agony and death. 

Freneau had met prison-ship conditions at first hand and 
expressed himself with the vividness that comes of per- 
sonal contact. But he was not alone among the bards. 
For one. Col. David Humphreys, aide-de-camp to Wash- 
ington, had something to say upon the subject in a poem 
previously noted, ^ comprising twenty-three pages of coup- 
lets and entitled, ''Address to the Armies of the United 
States of America, written during the American Revolu- 
tionary War." We read of British prison-life in general: 

"Why, Britain! rag'd thine insolence and scorn? 
Why burst thy vengeance on the wretch forlorn? 
The cheerless captive, to slow death consign'd, 
Chill'd with keen frost, in prison glooms confin'd. 
Oh, hope bereft, by thy vile minions curst, 
With hunger famish'd, and consum'd with thirst, 
Without one friend — when death's last horror stung, 
RoU'd the wild eye, and gnaw'd the anguish'd tongue.- 

To base a judgment entirely upon these poems and 
others of their kind, would-, however, possibly be unjust 
to the true state of affairs experienced, but after allow- 



1. See p. 104. 

2. In volume entitled, "Life of the Honorable Major-Gen- 
eral Isaac Putnam; ..." By Anna Seward; p. 204, 



I90 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

ance has been made for the temperament of Freneau and 
his fellow-bards who seemed to revel in extravagant state- 
ment and appeal, there still remains the unpleasant con- 
sciousness that conditions wretched and disgraceful must 
have obtained on board the prison and hospital-ships dur- 
ing the Revolution. Mr. Roosevelt writes of the wretched 
burying of the dead '} "They were evil, pestilent hulks of 
merchantmen or men-of-war, moored mostly in Walla- 
bout Bay; and in their noisome rotten holds men died by 
hundreds, and were buried in shallow pits at the water's 
edge, the graves being soon uncovered by the tide. In 
after years many hogsheads of human bones were taken 
from the foul ooze to receive christian burial."^ It is only 
fair to quote the same author once more for he remarks 
later on : "The king's officers as a whole doubtless meant 
to behave humanely, but the provost-marshal of New 
York was a very brutal man, and the cheating commis- 
saries who undertook to feed the prisoners made large 
fortunes by furnishing them with spoiled provisions, cur- 
tailing their rations, and the like."^ 

The fall of 1780 seemed to show unmistakable signs 
that the end of the conflict was not far distant though 
the patriot forces found it very far from easy to run 
the race set before them. Cornwallis had begun his prep- 
arations for what proved to be the last scene and had 
planned to march northward in one splendid, desperate 



1. Roosevelt: "New York," pp. 140-1. 

2. Fort Green Park Monument, Brooklsm, New York City, 
commemorates these days. 

3. P. 140. See also contemporary account of Thomas An- 
dres, 1 781, cited in Tyler: "Literary History of the American 
Revolution," II, 238, ff. 



1780 igi 

dash to put an end to further resistance. His path was by all 
odds a difficult one. At King's Mountain, near the north- 
ern border of South Carolina, was fought a brilliant bat- 
tle on October 7, 1780, one which called forth numerous 
songs expressive of joy and thanksgiving. And, well it 
might, for over one-fourth of Cornwallis's forces were 
captured. What with the uncertainty of adequate rein- 
forcements from abroad, the doubtful character and 
strength of the French assistance, the daring of Marion, 
Sumter and Pickens, the distressing tactics and brilliant 
campaigning of Greene, the English commander, like his 
predecessors, found his plans of conquest and subjugation 
entirely unlikely of complete realization. The year of 
Yorktown was at hand. 



CHAPTER XI 
YORKTOWN AND AFTER 

Supreme interest in the outcome of Cornwallis's cam- 
paign in the South — Freneaus new "Freeman's Journal'* 
— Eutaw Springs — "To the Memory of the Brave Amer- 
icans under General Greene, in South Carolina, Who fell 
in the action of September 8, 1781" — General Greene — 
the campaign before Yorktoivn — Joel Barloiv's tribute to 
Greene — Freneaus estimate of Cornwallis — The surren- 
der — Personal element in poetry of the time — "The Pros- 
pect of America' by Ladd — Thanksgiving over the peace 
— "Peace," by Low — "A Thanksgiving Hymn" — Delay 
in making definitive treaty — Loyalists and their views — Jo- 
seph S tans bury — "The United States" — "Let us be Hap- 
py as Long as we Can" — Freneau toward the Tories — 
"Truth Anticipated" — toward King George — three poems 
— toward patriot leaders — Col. David Humphreys on 
Washington — Freneaus "Verses Occasioned by General 
Washington's arrival in Philadelphia on his way to his 
seat in Virginia, December, 1783." 

THE year of Yorktown — 1781 — is naturally one of 
supreme Interest and moment. Cornwallis and his 
fortunes are the dominant theme for upon the suc- 
cess or failure of the British southern campaign was felt 
to rest the final outcome of the conflict. As we have 
noted in the preceding chapter weariness over the pro- 
longed struggle had been manifest for some time and many 
hearts were yearning for peace. The bards continued ac- 

192 



Yorktoun and After 193 

tlve, celebrating as in the earlier years the several aspects 
of the changing situation. Contribution after contribu- 
tion appeared in Freneau's newly established paper, "Free- 
man's Journal or North American Intelligencer," pub- 
lished at Philadelphia in the spring of the new year. In 
one notable poem Freneau affords us a few stanzas which 
have been rated with entire justice very high. The 
poem, "To the Memory of the Brave Americans Under 
General Greene, in South Carolina, WTio fell in the ac- 
tion of September 8, 1781,"^ is, it w^ould seem, his best 
contribution to patriotic verse from a purely literary 
standpoint. It is unusual in that boastfulness and intem- 
perance of expression are wanting and that its metre and 
form are in keeping with its spirit and tone. The action 
Freneau writes of took place at Eutaw Springs located 
about fifty miles from Charleston. Speaking of this skirm- 
ish with the British, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge says: 
"Coming down from the Santee, Greene gave their united 
forces battle at Eutaw Springs, where at first he carried 
all before him; but his advance was checked by a party 
who threw themselves into a brick house, and he was in a 
second attack defeated. The total loss to the Americans 
was over five hundred ; to the British over fifteen hundred 
men."^ Here is the poem on this event: 

At Eutaw Springs the valiant died; 

Their limbs with dust are covered o'er — 
Weep on, ye springs, your tearful tide; 

How many heroes are no more! 



1. "Poems :" II, 101-102. "First published in the Free- 
man's Journal, November 21, 1781." (Pattee). 

2. Lodge: "A Short History of the English Colonies in 
America," p. 514. 



194 'I' he Spirit of the American Revolution 

If in this wreck of ruin, they 

Can yet be thought to claim a tear, 
O smite your gentle breast and say 

The friends of freedom slumber here! 

Thou, who shalt trace this bloody plain, 
If goodness rules thy generous breast, 

Sigh for the wasted rural reign; 
Sigh for the shepherds, sunk to rest! 

Stranger, their humble graves adorn; 

You too may fall, and ask a tear; 
'Tis not the beauty of the morn 

That proves the evening shall be clear. 

They saw their injured country's woe; 

The flaming town, the wasted field; 
Then rushed to meet the insulting foe ; 

They took the spear — but left the shield. 

Led by thy conquering genius, Greene, 

The Britons they compelled to fly; 
None distant viewed the fatal plain, 

None grieved, in such a cause to die — 

But like the Parthians, famed of old, 
Who, flying, still their arrows threw, 

These routed Britons, full as bold. 
Retreated, and retreating slew. 

Now rest in peace, our patriot band; 

Though far from nature's limits thrown, 
We trust they find a happier land, 

A brighter sunshine of their own.^ 

There is in *'Eutaw Springs" a touch of finer senti- 
ment — more restrained, more temperate, and broader in 



J. See introduction, above, p. 19. 



Yorktown and After 195 

scope — than in much, if not most, that Freneau wrote. It 
is worth dwelling upon at length for with a change in 
wording, here and there, it might fittingly serve as a me- 
morial to all who gave their life-blood in the cause they 
deemed just. 

The w^ar in the South having proved so unsuccessful, it 
needed no prophet to foretell what the outcome must be. 
The allied French and Americans under Greene, Lafay- 
ette and Rochambeau with the British earl's own ill for- 
tune and disappointed hopes compelled his withdrawal to 
Yorktown, Virginia, in early August. Here was Wash- 
ington's opportunity which he had the sagacity to seize 
and push to its utmost in his superb march from the Hud- 
son to the James. Washington and Greene as generals 
never shone forth more brilliantly than in these final cam- 
paigns before Yorktown and their efforts and genius were 
rewarded on the nineteenth of October when Lord Corn- 
wallis capitulated, leaving little to be done between the 
mother-country and her once loyal colonies but the ar- 
rangement of the terms of peace and the signing of the 
treaty two years later. 

Of the American commanders in active service during 
the closing years General Nathaniel Greene was very 
clearly believed to be Washington's most able aid. We 
have ample evidence in the verse of the day as to the high 
esteem in which the makers thereof held the skilful tacti- 
cian and it is due his memory to note certain of the lines 
indited to his fame. Joel Barlow in "The Vision of Co- 
lumbus," above cited, ^ celebrated in his usual heightened 
style the second great retreat of the Revolution — Greene's 

I. See p. 66. 



196 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

running triumph through the southland, wasting the ener- 
gies of the British forces and virtually compelling their 
retirement finally to their last stand. Of the American, 
the poet writes: 

When Greene, in lonely greatness, rose to view, 

A few firm patriots to his standard drew, 

And, moving stately to a rising ground. 

Bade the loud trump to speedy vengeance sound; 

Fired by the voice, new squadrons, from afar, 

Crowd to the hero and demand the war. 

Round all the shores and plains he turn'd his eye, 

Saw forts arise and conquering banners fly: 

The saddening scene suspends his rising soul. 

And fates of empires in his bosom roll. 

With scanty force where should be lift the steel, 

While hosting foes immeasurably wheel ? 

Or how behold the boundless slaughter spread, 

Himself stand idle and his country bleed? 

A silent moment thus the hero stood, 
And held his warriors from the field of blood ; 
Then points the British legions where to roll, 
Marks out their progress and designs the whole. 
He lures their chief, o'er yielding realms to roam. 
To build his greatness and to find his doom; 
With gain and grandeur feeds his fateless flame. 
And leaves the victory to a nobler name; 
Gives to great Washington, to meet his way 
Nor claims the glories of so bright a day. 

Now to the conquer'd south with gathering force, 
O'er sanguine plains he shapes his rapid course; 
Forts fall around him, hosts before him fly. 
And captive bands his growing train supply. 
At length, far spreading thro' a fatal field, 
Collecting chiefs their circling armies wheel'd ; 
New Eutaw's fount, where, long renown'd for blood, 
Pillars of ancient fame in triumph stood. 



Yorktown and After 197 

Britannia's squadrons, ranged in order bright, 
Stand, like a fiery wall, and wait the shock of fight. 

O'er all the great Observer fix'd his eye, 
Mark'd the whole strife, beheld them fall and fly; 
He saw where Greene thro' all the combat drove. 
And death and victory with his presence move; 
Beneath his arm saw Marion pour the strife, 
Pickens and Sumner, prodigal of life ; 
He saw young Washington the child of fame. 
Preserve in fight the honours of his name; 
Brave Lee, in pride of youth and veteran rriight. 
Swept the dread field, and put whole troops to flight; 
While numerous chiefs, that equal trophies raise. 
Wrought not unseen the deeds of deathless praise. 

Toward the British general-in-chief Freneau's feelings 
were expressed in no complimentary terms and on his over- 
throw, the poet's verse was exultant to the last degree. 
Tories, too, he continued bitterly to assail and only in 
Washington and his men could he discover anything to 
glorify. 

In one piece^ of verse referring to Cornwallis, Freneau 
writes: "Hail, great destroyer (equalled yet by none)" — 
"Burgoyne himself was but a type of thee": — "Satan's 
best substitute," and "The plundering servant of a bank- 
rupt king." In another^ we behold the earl thus apos- 
trophized : 

Cornwallis! thou art rank'd among the great; 
Such was the will of all-controuling fate. 
As mighty men, who liv'd in days of yore, 



1. "To Lord Cornwallis at York, Virginia." "Poems": 
II, 80-7. 

2. "On the Fall of General Earl Cornwallis;" (a poem of 
over fifty heroic couplets) "Poems:" II, 92-100. 



19B The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Were figur'd out some centuries before; 

So you with them in equal honour join, 

Your great precursor's name was Jack Burgoyne! 

Like you was he, a man in arms renown'd. 

Who, hot for conquest, sail'd the ocean round; 

This, this was he, who scour'd the woods for praise, 

And burnt down cities to describe the blaze! 

And later in the same piece : 

Now curs'd with life, a foe to man and God, 
Like Cain, I drive you to the land of Nod. 
He with a brother's blood his hands did stain. 
One brother he, you have a thousand slain. 

The final siege by the combined French and American 
forces, the lingering hope and, later, the utter extremity 
of the British, and the virtual culmination of hostilities in 
the surrender of the king's army in October — all received 
proper recognition in the verse of the day. The personal 
element enters in large measure as in the earlier verse and 
it would be difficult to discover the omission of the names 
of any who had served the cause of independence. Wash- 
ington, particularly, seemed in the public mind the repre- 
sentation of the whole struggle, if we may be guided by 
the output in rhyme and metre. He is spoken of by turns 
as the "glorious son, of British hosts the terror," and the 
name "to latest times respected." 

From among the numerous works published at the close 
of the war let us cite the following,^ entitled; "The Pros- 



I. "Literary Remains of Joseph B. Ladd, M. D.," N. Y., 
1832. Ladd (1764-1786) was one of many who passed their 
leisure moments in verse-making, frequently with no thought 
that their work would ultimately appear in print. 



Yorktown and After 199 

pect of America," and ''inscribed to his excellency General 
Washington." Hancock, Montgomery, Adams, Paine, 
Franklin, Greene, Wayne and others, all are duly praised 
but of the foremost we read: 

Great Washington! Illustrious Chief, 
Illustrious Chief! amidst thy sweet retreat, 
Mayst thou live happy, as thou'rt good and great. 

In ev'ry heart thy monument be known. 
With this inscription: "Here is Washington." 

From another poet^ may be noted the poem, "Peace," 
which, as it is stated in volume one of his works, was "pub- 
lished shortly after the ratification of peace between Amer- 
ica and Great Britain." Montgomery, Sullivan, Gates, 
Greene, with others, are all mentioned. Of the American 
envoy at Paris, we read: 

In thee, the Muse, oh, Franklin! fain would tell 
What useful lore and sage experience dwell; 
In thy philosophy such lights appear, 
As make a wond'ring world thy name revere ; 
Thy genius hath repell'd the lightning's force. 
And tum'd its vengeful blaze a safer course; 
Nor thee alone hath Science taught to find, 
Whate'er enlightens and expands the mind. 
It gives the self-taught Rittenhouse renown, 
And joys our learned Jefferson to crown. 

And of one other : 

The foremost hero on the lists of Fame, 
Is Washington, a memorable name: 



I. Low, Samuel: "Poems," 2 vols., N. Y., 1800: "To his 
own amusement and improvement he has written; at the re- 
quest of his friends he publishes." See preface, volume I. 



^00 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Oh, truly great and good! oh, truly brave! 
Who didst thy country from oppression save. 
Illustrious chief! that country's joy and pride, 
The admiration of the w^orld beside; 
May many years be still upon thee shed, 
And Time roll prosp'rous o'er thy honor'd head : 
And, now the work of devastation's done, 
Now, by thy arm, at length, the battle's won, 
To tranquil, rural scenes again retir'd, 
Mayst thou enjoy the bliss so long desir'd; 
There calmly may thy minutes glide, nor cease 
Till Heav'n shall call thee to eternal peace. 

And the poet closes with a couplet fervent enough : 

Oh! long preserve, kind Heav'n, our prosp'rous state, 
And make us good, as well as wise and great ! 

The poet offers his sentiment on the consummation so 
devoutly wished — peace after strife: 

Deep in a grove, that mock'd the northern blast, 
And o'er the scene a solemn embrage cast, 
The guardian Genius of Columbia stood ; 
Serene she smil'd upon her native wood. 
And tun'd to harmony her grateful lay; 
The conscious forest own'd her cheering ray; 
She told how Peace her olive-branch display'd, 
And thus, melodious, sung the raptur'd maid: 

"Hail, favour'd land! where genial Peace now deigns 
To shed her joys o'er groves, and hills, and plains, 
Delightful scenes, by smiling Plenty grac'd, 
A paradise emerging from a waste! 
What floods of transport, what delight intense, 
That now Columbia's free, pervade each sense! 
Long have her sons the contest well maintain'd 
For native Freedom: lo! the prize is gain'd: 



Yorktown and After 20I 

The painful conflict o'er, they reap, at last, 
The sweet reward of all their labours past. 

Sing, tuneful tenants of the woodland shade, 
For lo ! the peaceful standard is display'd ; 
Ye lowing herds exalt your praises high, 
And let your hoarse thanksgivings reach the sky; 
Ye sportive flocks bleat loud, and let the sound 
Thro' hills and vales reverberate around ; 
Let hills and vales, inanimate, rejoice, 
All nature raise a gratulating voice! 
Wave high your heads ye trees, your joy attest ; 
And bloom ye flow'rs, in various colours drest, 
Expand your beauties to th' admiring eye, 
A lovely scene! — ye who in waters lie, 
And gambol glad beneath the noontide ray, 
In silent joy to Peace your homage pay; 
Let Ocean's waves exult; and ev'ry spring 
Murmur soft praises to Creation's King; 
To Heaven's King let man now raise his voice, 
Let him, in grateful strains supreme, rejoice; 
Thou zephyrus, on willing wings, difl^use 
Throughout the world the heart-reviving news, 
That war, and rapine, and oppression cease, 
That now our lot is Liberty and Peace!" 

Another poem of the day exultant over the same glor- 
ious event, "A Thanksgiving Hymn," is worthy of full 
quotation : 

The Lord above, in tender love, 

Hath sav'd us from our foes; 
Through Washington the thing is done, 

The war is at a close. 

America has won the day. 

Through Washington, our chief; 



202 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Come let's rejoice with heart and voice, 
And bid adieu to grief. 

Now we have peace, and may increase 
In number, wealth, and arts; 

If every one, like Washington, 
Will strive to do their parts. 

Then let's agree, since we are free. 
All needless things to shun; 

And lay aside all pomp and pride. 
Like our great Washington. 

Use industry and frugal be, 
Like Washington the brave; 

So shall we see, 'twill easy be, 
Our country for to save. 

From present wars and future foes. 
And all that we may fear; 

While Washington, the great brave one, 
Shall as our chief appear. 

Industry and frugality. 

Will all our taxes pay; 
In virtuous ways, we'll spend our days. 

And for our rulers pray. 

The Thirteen States, united sets, 

In Congress simply grand ; 
The Lord himself preserve their health. 

That they may rule this land. 

Whilst every State, without its mate, 

Doth rule itself by laws. 
Will sovereign be, and always free; 

To grieve there is no cause. 



Yorktown and After 203 

But all should try, both low and high, 

Our freedom to maintain; 
Pray God to bless our grand Congress, 

And cease from every sin. 

Then sure am I, true liberty. 

Of every sort will thrive; 
With one accord we'll praise the Lord 

All glory to Him give. 

To whom all praise is due always, 

For he is all in all ; 
George Washington, that noble one, 

On his great name doth call. 

Our Congress too, before they do. 

Acknowledge Him supreme; 
Come let us all before Him fall, 

And glorify His name.^ 

It will be of interest to note the thought of the writer 
of the above hymn with regard to the equality and freedom 
of the states making up the Union. In the eighth and 
ninth stanzas we have, it would seem, a very early ex- 
pression on the relations of the states to one another and 
to the Union or rather confederation as it then was, into 
which they had formed themselves. 

The close of active field hostilities did not imme- 
diately lead to the final termination of the con- 
flict of opinion and desire. Yorktown was two 
years old in story when the last British soldier bade fare- 
well to New York.^ Still all could see quite clearly that 



1. See Moore: "Songs and Ballads," 376-379. 

2. The Treaty had been signed in September. 1782, though 
not accepted by America till the following January. The Brit- 
ish evacuated New York, November 25, 1783. 



204 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

the inevitable was merely a matter patiently to be looked 
forward to. General satisfaction prevailed, — profound 
and gratifying to the continental forces, mingled bitter 
and sweet to the loyalists. One^ of these latter, whose 
work has been especially preserved, manifests the peculiar 
interplay of emotions that bodied themselves forth in 
verse. The first which we shall quote is entitled, "The 
United States," and is in full as follows: 

Now this War at length is o'er. 
Let us think of it no more. 
Every Party Lie or Name, 
Cancel as cur mutual Shame. 
Bid each \\ound of Faction close, 
Blushing wt were ever Foes. 

Now restor'd to Peace again. 
Active Commerce ploughs the Main ; 
All the arts of Civil Life, 
Swift succeed to Martial Strife; 
Britain now allows their claim, 
Rising Empire, Wealth, and Fame.^ 

The second piece by the same author, Stansbury, evi- 
dences the philosophic temper that the approaching dis- 
tress which loyalists felt they would soon suffer tended 
to develop within them. It is entitled, rather appropri- 
ately, "Let us be Happy as Long as We Can." 

Fve heard in old times that a Sage us'd to say 
The Seasons were nothing — December or May — 



1. Joseph Stansbury. See "Loyal Verses," ed. by W. Sar- 
gent. 

2. Ibid., p. 89; from manuscript of Joseph Stansbury (Sar- 
gent). 



Yorktown and After 205 

The Heat or the Cold never enter'd his Plan ; 
That all should be happy whenever they can. 

No matter what Power directed the State, 
He look'd upon such things as order'd by Fate. 
Whether govern'd by many, or rul'd by one Man, 
His rule was — be happy whenever you can. 

Time-serving I hate, yet I see no good reason 
A leaf from their book should be thought out of season. 
When kick'd like a foot-ball from Sheba to Dan, 
Egad, let's be happy as long as we can. 

Since no one can tell what to-morrow may bring, 
Or which side shall triumph, the Congress or King; 
Since Fate must o'errule us and carry her plan. 
Why, let us be happy as long as we can. 

To-night let's enjoy this good Wine and a Song, 
And relish the hour which we cannot prolong 
If Evil will come, we'll adhere to our Plan 
And baffle Misfortune as long as we can.^ 

Toward Tories and toryism Freneau in particular was 
very severe and affords ample testimony in verse as to the 
hard trial to which loyalty was put even after hostilities 
had ceased. The publisher of a patriotic organ himself, 
he took peculiar delight in his keenly satirical verse to 
hold these objects of his scorn up to ridicule and abuse. 
The two royalist printers, James Rivington, editor of 



I. "Printed from the Original Manuscript of Joseph Stans- 
bury, and evidently adapted to the situation of the Tory ref- 
ugees at New York, during the latter part of 1782 and the 
commencement of 1783, when the prospect was daily growing 
stronger of Great Britain relinquishing the war." Sargent, 
"Loyal Verses," pp. 86-87. 



2o6 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

"The New York Royal Gazette," afterwards "The Royal 
Gazette," and Hugh Gaine, publisher of "The New York 
Mercury," afterwards "The New York Mercury and 
Weekly Gazette," were, in especial, objects of attack. In 
"Truth Anticipated,"^ we read these lines on Rivington : 

Now let us give credit to Jemmy, forsooth, 
Since once in a way he has hit on the truth ; 
If again he returns to his practice of lies, 
He hardly reflects where he'll go when he dies. 

But still, when he dies, let it never be said 
That he rests in his grave with no verse at his head ; 
But furnish, ye poets, some short epitaph, 
And something like this, that readers may laugh : 
Here lies a King's Printer, we needn't say who: 
There is reason to think that he tells what is true: 

But if he lies here, 'tis not over-strange, 
His present position is but a small change. 
So, reader pass on — 'tis a folly to sigh, 
For all his life long he did little but lie. 

But it was for King George^ himself that Freneau re- 
served his very choice epithets, and they would seem the 
last words in the language of abuse and bitterness. There 
is no need here to call from oblivion many of these but it 
may be well to cite a few selected from several poems. In 
"A Picture of the Times with Occasional Reflections," 
published in July, 1782,^ and consisting of over thirty-five 



1. "Poems": II, 143-146. 

2. The historian Green says that "the shame of the dark- 
est hour of English history lies wholly at his door"; p. 777, 
"A Short History of the English People." (Quoted by per- 
mission of American Book Company, Publishers). 

3. "Poems"; II, 165-7. 



Yorktown and After 207 

heroic couplets, we read: 

Touched from the life, I trace no ages fled, 

I draw no curtain that conceals the dead ; 

To distant Britain let thy view be cast, 

And say the present far exceeds the past; 

Of all the plagues that e'er the world have curs'd, 

Name George the tyrant, and you name the worst. 

And in "The Political Balance, or, The Fates of Bri- 
tain and America Compared," a work of fifty-nine qua- 
trains, issued a few months before, we learn 

Of a king with a mighty soft place in his head. 
Who should join in his temper the ass and the mule, 
The third of his name, and by far the worse fool.^ 

Particularly bitter is the poem, "On the British King's 
Speech Recommending Peace with the American States,"^ 
which appeared in "Freeman's Journal," in March, 1783. 
Two of the King's ministers are called "twin sons of hell," 
and the sovereign himself is named a "monster": 

Let jarring powers make war or peace, 
Monster ! — no peace can greet your breast : 
Our murdered friends can never cease 
To hover round and break your rest ! 



1. "George III summed up in his person the pertinacity 
characteristic of the Guelps and the Stuarts. The gift of firm- 
ness, the blending of which with foresight and intelligence 
produces the greatest of characters, was united in George III 
with narrowness of vision, absorption in the claims of self, 
and a pedantic clinging to the old and traditional;" p. 97, 
"William Pitt and National Revival," by J. Holland Rose, 
Litt. D., London; G. Bell & Sons, Ltd., 191 1. 

2. "Poems": II, 217-9. 



2o8 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Though, of course, such terrible effusions are excessive 
in the extreme, they at any rate serve to indicate the feel- 
ing towards the king personally of at least one patriot 
and he of commanding importance and influence in his 
chosen field. 

Let us revert to the pleasanter side and cite a poet's es- 
timate of the men who led the forces of liberty and a poet's 
expression of gratitude to all who helped them in their 
common cause: 

Accept, great men, that share of honest praise 
A grateful nation to your merit pays: 
Verse is too mean your merit to display, 
And words too weak our praises to convey. 

When first proud Britain raised her hostile hand 
With claims unjust to bind our native land, 
Transported armies, and her millions spent 
To enforce the mandate that a tyrant sent ; 
"Resist! resist!" was heard through every state, 
You heard the call, and feared your country's fate; 
Then rising fierce in arms, for war arrayed, 
You taught to vanquish those who dared invade, 
O! may you live to hail that glorious daj^^ 
When Britain homeward shall pursue her way — 
That race subdued, who filled the world with slain 
And rode tyrannic o'er the subject main. 
What few presumed, you boldly have achieved, 
A tyrant humbled, and a world relieved. 

O Washington, who leadst this glorious train. 
Still may the fates thy valued life maintain. 

Throughout the world your growing fame has spread, 



I. Realized fully on November 25, 1783, "Evacuation Day," 
when the British army at New York embarked for home. 



Yorktown and After 209 

In every country are your virtues read; 
Remotest India hears your deeds of fame, 
The hardy Scythian stammers at your name; 
The haughty Turk, now longing to be free. 
Neglects his Sultan to enquire of thee; 
The barbarous Briton hails you to his shores, 
And calls him Rebel, w^hom his heart adores.^ 

Other poets, too, paid tribute to the great Virginian. 
In a poem, quoted above,- Col. David Humphreys wrote 
these lines: 

Now darkness gathered round. 
The thunder rumbled, and the tempest frown'd; 
When lo! to guide us thro' the storm of war, 
Beam'd the bright splendor of Virginia's star. 
O first of heroes, fav'rite of the skies, 
To what dread toils thy country bade thee rise ! 

'Twas thine to change the sweetest scenes of life 
For public cares — to guide the embattled strife — 
Unnumber'd ills of every kind to dare. 
The winter's blast, the summer's sultry air. 
The lurking dagger, and the turbid storms 
Of wasting war, with death in all its forms 
Nor aught could daunt. Unspeakably serene. 
Thy conscious soul smil'd o'er the dreadful scene. 

His martial skill our rising armies form'd ; 
His patriot zeal their gen'rous bosoms warm'd; 
His voice inspir'd, his godlike presence led.^ 

We shall close our chapter with a few of the seventeen 



1. "An address to the Commander-in-chief, Officers, and 
Soldiers of the American Army," "Freeman's Journal," Sep- 
tember, 1781; "Poems": II, 81-3. 

2. P. 189. 

3. "Address to the Armies of the United States of Amer- 
ica," in volume by Seward, pp. 198-9. 



210 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

sianzas of a poem written on Washington's return to 
his home at Mt. Vernon in December, 1783. We hear his 
praises sung by him who has been truly called *'the poet 
of the revolution":^ 

The great, unequal conflict past, 

The Briton banish'd from our shore. 
Peace, Heaven-descended, comes at last. 
And hostile nations rage no more; 
From fields of death the weary swain 
Returning, seeks his native plain. 

In every vale she smiles serene, 

Freedom's bright stars more radiant rise. 
New charms she adds to every scene. 
Her brighter sun illumes our skies ; 
Remotest realms admiring stand. 
And hail the Hero of our land. 

He comes! — the Genius of these lands — 

Fame's thousand tongues his worth confess, 
Who conquer'd with his sufifering bands, 
And grew immortal by distress: 

Thus calms succeed the stormy blast, 
And valour is repaid at last. 

O Washington! — thrice glorious name, 
What due rewards can man decree — 
Empires are far below thy aim. 

And sceptres have no charms for thee; 
Virtue alone has thy regard, 
And she must be thy great reward. 

For ravag'd realms and conquer'd seas 
Rome gave the great imperial prize. 
And, swell'd with pride, for feats like these, 



I. "Verses Occasioned by General Washington's arrival in 
Philadelphia on his way to his seat in Virginia, December, 
1783," in "Freeman's Journal," December, 1783, "Poems": II, 
225-29. 



Yorktown and After 211 

Transferr'd her heroes to the skies: — 
A brighter scene your deeds display, 
You gain those heights a different way. 

Throughout the east you gain applause, 

And soon the Old World, taught by you, 
Shall blush to own her barbarous laws. 
Shall learn instruction from the New: 
Monarchs shall hear the humble plea. 
Nor urge too far the proud decree. 

Your fame, thus spread to distant lands. 

May envy's fiercest blasts endure, 
Like Egypt's pyramids it stands, 
Built on a basis more secure; 

Time's latest age shall own in you 
The patriot and the statesman too. 

Nor less in wisdom than in war 

Freedom shall still employ your mind, 
Slavery shall vanish, wide and far, 
'Till not a trace is left behind; 

Your counsels not bestow'd in vain 
Shall still protect this infant reign. 

O say, thou great, exalted name! 

What Muse can boast of equal lays. 
Thy world disdains all vulgar fame. 
Transcends the noblest poet's praise, 
Art soars, unequal to the flight, 
And genius sickens at the height. 

For states redeem'd — our western reign 

Restor'd by thee to milder sway. 
Thy conscious glory shall remain 

When this great globe is swept away, 
And all is lost that pride admires, 
And all the pageant scene expires. 



CHAPTER XII 

CONCLUSION 

Retrospect, Criticism, and Opinion 

A nation s poetry — its value — The spirit of the Ameri- 
can Revolution — its co?nplex nature — Trevelyan on Brit- 
ish public opinion — Professor Tyler on the Loyalists* lit- 
erary remains — Colonists' knowledge of affairs and men — 
The bards and Washington — Hopkinsons early estimate 
— Philip Freneau, "the poet of the Revolution'' — Criti- 
cism — Tyler, Wendell, Pattee — An opinion — A verse- 
galaxy. 

IN his essay entitled, "Mere Literature," Woodrow 
Wilson has said : "'There is more of a nation's politics 
to be got out of its poetry than out of all its systematic 
writers upon public afiairs and constitutions."^ To put it 
differently : a nation's songs and ballads bear a closer kin- 
ship to the nation's heart-throbs than do the statutes and 
decisions made and written by her citizens. We feel the 
pulse of life in its living before that life has crystallized 
into formula and the articles of political belief ; we have a 
realization of the process rather than of the product of 
the workings whereby things have come to be as they are. 
The present essay has been to little purpose if it has 
not served to reveal the spirit of the time of which it 



I. Wilson : "Mere Literature," N. Y. 1896, p. 10. 
212 



Conclusion 213 

treats as indicative of a people's thought that was far from 
simple ; rather, indeed, a great complex varying from peri- 
od to period and from place to place. Our study, it would 
seem, has given evidence first of the fact that throughout 
the earlier years of the struggle for American independ- 
ence and long before the skirmish on Lexington green 
there was, among certain classes or at least in the minds 
of some individuals, a realization that the colonies' ulti- 
mate destiny was political autonomy, separate from the 
British empire it might be or as still a part thereof. And 
secondly, it must have appeared that through all the years 
of conflict there persisted a strong feeling of loyalty to 
the crown, a conviction on the part of no inconsiderable 
number of people that the cause of contention and disun- 
ion was wholly inadequate to justify the taking up of arms 
or a belief and a hope on the part of others that finally the 
dispute would in some way be settled and reconciliation 
be effected. Furthermore, it is manifest that the sympa- 
thies of Englishmen at home were not wholly on the 
king's side but were seriously divided and as the years 
passed lessened not so much perhaps as increased in favor 
of the rebels across the seas. 

Trevelyan remarks: "British public opinion was never 
unanimous at any stage of the American war ; but in what 
proportion that opinion was divided it is impossible to de- 
termine at the distance of a hundred and thirty years. 
. . . Anything may be proved on either side by a ju- 
dicious selection of individual utterances that were made 
in all good faith, but too frequently from very imperfect 
knowledge."^ And the same writer adds, later on: "The 



I. "The American Revolution," III, 163-4. 



214 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

surest criterion of the popularity attaching to a warlike 
policy is afforded by the prevailing tone and tendency of 
the public journals."^ As far as the latter were concerned 
in the struggle, both loyalists and patriots as we have seen^ 
were not without support. In New York — always doubt- 
ful in its feelings and convictions — the loyalist printers, 
Rivington and Gaine, published their broadsides in de- 
fense of the king, while in Philadelphia, the rebel capital, 
Freneau issued his journal in favor of everything Amer- 
ican. And these are only typical for there were many in 
the same and other cities. 

It is matter of note, also, how intimate was the knowl- 
edge of events, how clear the appreciation of the questions 
at issue, their meaning and significance, and with what 
discrimination at times the actors in the conflict — minis- 
terial, congressional and military, — were considered. We 
seem to feel that toward king, parliament and ministry the 
Rebel far outdid the Tory in his bitterness toward con- 
gress and patriot leader. But we must bear in mind, as a 
corrective to judgment, that much of the loyalist's en- 
deavor was suppressed, has been permitted to lie neglected 
through the years and that on the other hand the expres- 
sion of the patriot feelings in song and ballad would nat- 
urally, in such a period of storm and stress, tend to be ex- 
treme and extravagant. 

Professor Tyler^ sums up the matter admirably: "That 
the writings of the Loyalists, from 1776 to 1783, were in 
number inferior to those of the opposite party, can now 



1. "The American Revolution," III, p. 165. 

2. See p. 37. 

3. "Literary History of the American Revolution/* II, 51. 



Conclusion 215 

surprise no one who considers the circumstances of that 
time, when all active Loyalists had been ruthlessly harried 
out of the country or harried into enemy's lines, and when 
in all the length and breadth of the land, from New 
Hampshire to Georgia, not a newspaper, not a printing 
press, was left at their service, excepting, of course, in the 
city of New York and in such other large towns as might 
chance to be for any part of the time under British occu- 
pation. Moreover, it will not be forgotten that such exe- 
crable things as Tory writings, even if they got into print, 
could hardly get into circulation ; they could come in only 
as they were smuggled in, and they could pass from hand 
to hand only by that sort of stealth which is itself a con- 
fession of crime." 

We may frequently gain a nearer view of the truth of 
each side to the controversy by reading the writings of 
the other, as notably in the case of the impotent Congress 
at Philadelphia and again in that of the French Alliance. 
Nowhere, perhaps, can we see these as they were more 
clearly than in such a poem as that of the Reverend Jon- 
athan Odell, quoted above, ^ and in Tory expressions of 
doubt as to the real benefit that in the end would accrue 
from the treaty of 1778. 

Notable, too, is the deep and widespread respect, even 
among certain of his foes, in which Washington was fre- 
quently held by so many of the bards. When other lead- 
ers are praised he is extolled, when disaster comes and 
ruin is imminent the calm, dignified figure of the com- 
mander-in-chief seems at least to certain of these poets, 
and those of influence withal, to stand out impressively 

I. P. 166. 



2l6 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

reassuring. Not that we should infer that bitter jeal- 
ousies did not exist for they did, mean and sordid spirits 
there were, nor that envious striving for place and power 
failed to make itself known, for it did, ambitious self-seek- 
ing and misjudging criticism there were; but rather that 
the heart of the plainer folk and, in particular, the com- 
mon soldiery rested confidingly in the great Virginian, 
trusting in his sincerity if at times doubtful, inapprecia- 
tive of his genius and mentally reserving assent to the 
wisdom of his plans. Early in the struggle Francis Hop- 
kinson voiced this estimate: "To him the title of Excel- 
lency is applied with peculiar propriety. ... In 
private life, he wins the hearts and wears the love of all 
who are so happy as to fall within the circle of his ac- 
quaintance. In his public character, he commands uni- 
versal respect and admiration. Conscious that the prin- 
ciples on which he acts are indeed founded in virtue and 
truth, he steadily pursues the arduous work with a mind 
neither depressed by disappointment and difficulties, nor 
elated with temporary success. He retreats like a gen- 
eral, and attacks like a hero. . . . One age cannot 
do justice to his merit; but a grateful posterity shall for 
a succession of ages remember the great deliverer of his 
country."^ 

Of the bards of '76, as has been said in the text, none 
but three or four have left a name to be remembered even 
by the student and only one, Philip Freneau, cap be said 
to have survived in American letters, — if, indeed, of even 
him it may be so asserted. He, the most prolific and the 
most able of all, wrote little above mediocrity though 



I. Miscellaneous "Essays and Occasional Writings": I. 



Conclusion 217 

much that was below it, — far below, at times. These later 
years have witnessed not a little endeavor to revive an 
interest in the writings of this singer of our earlier day. 
The late Professor Tyler, just quoted, in his monumen- 
tal "Literary History of the American Revolution," speaks 
enthusiastically of Freneau: "Even in the larger relations 
which an American poet in the eighteenth century might 
hold to the development of English poetry everywhere, 
Freneau did some works, both early and late, so fresh, so 
original, so unhackneyed, so defiant of the traditions that 
then hampered and deadened English verse — as to entitle 
him to be called a pioneer of the new poetic age that was 
then breaking upon the world, and therefore to be classed 
with Cowper, Burns, Wordsworth, and their mighty 
comrades — those poetic iconoclasts who, entering the tem- 
ple of eighteenth century English verse broke up its wood- 
en idols, rejected its conventionalized diction, and si- 
lenced forever its pompous, monotonous, and insincere 
tune."^ Elsewhere,^ the same critic asserts that Freneau 
was "a true man of genius, the one true poet of unques- 
tionable originality granted to America prior to the nine- 
teenth century." "Indeed," declares Tyler, "a running 
commentary on the writings of this poet during the last 
three or four years of the revolution, would be a run- 
ning commentary on the most important aspects of our 
history during those years."^ 

Professor Wendell in his "Literary History of Amer- 
ica," maintains,* that, "In one or two of his [Frencau's] 



1. II, 274. 

2. Stanton : "Manual of American Literature," 42. 

3. Ibid., 43. 

4. P- 130. 



21 8 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

poems, it now seems probable we can find more literary 
merit than in any other work produced in America be- 
fore the nineteenth century." 

A little more than a decade ago a notable revival of 
interest appeared in the three-volume edition of the poet's 
work under the editorial care of Professor Pattee. 

Our own estimate of Philip Freneau would be that he 
was a most considerable writer of readable verse during our 
Revolutionary era and after; that he was frequently not 
unoriginal ; that he possessed rather remarkable versatility 
and that his verse, circulating widely in its day, had 
through its piquant characterization a marked influence 
upon the spirits of the men who fought against their king. 

With Freneau was a galaxy of verse-stars far from lack- 
ing in brilliancy — men who viewed their fellows, the is- 
sues and events of their time, with an oftentimes very 
clear discernment, overstating their case, it is true, on oc- 
casion, but when read with others of their calling on the 
loyal side, furnishing forth a picture of their day and 
generation wherein one may discover the lights as well as 
the shadows of a great conflict, the gay and the hearty 
with the sad and the despairing, humor, pathos and bitter 
tragedy — all that went to the making of life when strong 
men lived and brave women, too, who stood by their faith 
with a patient courage and stern devotion worthy the re- 
spect and veneration which posterity has not forgotten to 
bestow. 



APPENDIX 

I. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL 

Evans, Charles. 
American Bibliography. A Ch;:onological dictionary of 
all books, pamphlets and periodical publications 
printed in the United States of America from . . . 
1639 ... to .. . 1820. With biblio- 
graphical and biographical notes. Chicago, 1903- 
1910. 6 vols. (v. 3— 1751-1764; V. 4— 1765-1773; 
V. 5—1774-1778; V. 6— 1 778-1 784.) 
Harris Collection of American Poetry, A Catalogue of 
the; with Biographical and Bibliographical Notes. 
By John C. Stockbridge. Providence, 1886. 
Otis, William B. 

American Verse — 1625-1807. A History, N. Y., 
1909. 
Paltsits, Victor H. 

A Bibliography of the Separate and Collected Works of 
Philip Freneau ; together with an account of his news- 
papers. N. Y., 1903. 
Pattee, Fred Lewis. 

Bibliography of Philip Freneau; Bibliographer, v. i, 
pp. 97-106. N. Y., 1902. 
Sabin, Joseph. 

Bibliotheca Americana. A dictionary of books relating 
to America. 20 vols. N. Y., 1868-1892. 
Tyler, Moses C. 

The Literary History of the American Revolution. 
1 763-1 783. 2 vols. N. Y., 1897. 
Wegelin, Oscar. 

Early American Poetry. A Compilation of the Titles 
of Volumes of Verse and Broadsides, Written by 
Writers Born or Residing in North America, and 
Issued During the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Cen- 
turies. New York, 1903. 
219 



220 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Early American Poetry, 1800- 1820. 

With an appendix containing the titles of volumes 
and broadsides issued during the seventeenth and 
eighteenth centuries, which were omitted in the vol- 
ume containing the years 1650- 1799. New York, 
1907. 



II. SOURCES— SELECTED 

I. Primary Sources — Original Works of Individual Poets 

Barlow, Joel. 

The Columbiad, Philadelphia, 1807. (Various edi- 
tions. ) 
Bleecker, Ann Eliza. 

The Posthumous Works of, in prose and verse. N. Y., 

1793. 
Brackenridge, Hugh Henry. 

Gazette Publications. Carlisle, 1806. 

Poetical Miscellany. N. Y., 1793. 
Case, Rev. Wheeler. 

Revolutionary Memorials, embracing Poems, Published 
in 1778, and an Appendix, . . . Edited by 
The Rev. Stephen Dodd. N. Y., 1852. 
Freneau, Philip. 

Poems. Written chiefly during the late war. Phila- 
delphia, 1786. 

Miscellaneous Works of, containing his Essays, and Ad- 
ditional Poems. Philadelphia, 1788. 

Poems Written between the Years 1768 and 1794'- A 
new edition revised and corrected . . . includ- 
ing a considerable number of pieces never before pub- 
lished. 1795. 

Poems written and published during the American 
Revolutionary War, and now republished from the 
original Manuscripts. 2 vols, Philadelphia, 1809, 



Appendix 221 

Poet of the American Revolution. The Poems of the, 
Edited for the Princeton Historical Association by 
Fred Lewis Pattee. 3 vols. Princeton, 1903. 
Hopkinson, Francis. 

Miscellaneous Essays and Occasional Writings of. 3 
vols. Philadelphia, 1792. (Poems in volume 3.) 
Poems on Several Subjects. Philadelphia, 1792. 
Humphreys, David. 

Poems, Philadelphia, 1789. 
Miscellaneous Works, N. Y., 1790. 
Ladd, Joseph Brown. 

Poems of Ar(o)uet. Charleston, S. C, 1786. 
The Literary Remains of. N. Y., 1832. 
Low, Samuel. 

Poems. 2 vols. N. Y., 1800. 
Paine, Thomas. 

The Writings of. Collected and Edited by Mcncure 

David Conway. 4 vols. New York, 1894-96. 
Life and Writings of. Edited and Annotated by Daniel 
Edwin Wheeler. 10 vols. New York, 1908. 
Seward, Anna. 

The Poetical Works of, with Extracts from her Liter- 
ary Correspondence. Ed. by Walter Scott, Esq., 
Edinburgh, 18 10. 3 vols. 
Trumbull, John. 

Poetical Works, Hartford, 1820. 2 vols. 
(Numerous other editions.) 
Warren (Mrs.) Mercy Otis. 

Poems: Dramatic and Miscellaneous. Boston, 1790. 
Wheatly, Phillis. 

Poems of, As they were originally published in London, 
1773. Philadelphia, 1909. 

2. Secondary Sources — Collections of Verse 

Cairns, William B. 

Selections from Early American Writers, 1607- 1800, 
N. Y., 1909. 



222 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Duyckinck, Evart A., and George L. 

Cyclopedia of American Literature, Embracing Per- 
sonal and Critical Notices of Authors. And Selec- 
tions from Their Writings. From the Earliest Per- 
iod to the Present Day; with Portraits, Autographs, 
and Other Illustrations. 2 vols. Philadelphia, 1881. 
Eggleston, George C. 

American War Ballads and Lyrics ; A Collection of the 
songs and ballads of the Colonial Wars, the Revolu- 
tion, etc. 2 vols. N. Y., 1889. 
Everest, Charles W. 

Poets of Connecticut, The; With Biographical 
Sketches. Hartford, 1843. 
Griswold, Rufus W. 

Female Poets of America w^ith additions by R. H. 

Stoddard. N. Y., 1873. 
Poets and Poetry of America; to the middle of the 
Nineteenth Century, nth ed. revised. Philadel- 
phia, 1852. 
Ha^en, J. C. 

Fall ads of the Revolution. N. Y., 1866. 
Kettell, Samuel. 

Specimens of American Poetry, with Critical and Bio- 
graphical Notices. In Three Volumes. Boston, 
1829. 
Linton, W. J. 

Poetry of America. Selections from one hundred 
American poets from 1776 to 1876. With an intro- 
ductory review of colonial poetry and some specimens 
of negro melody. London, 1878. 
May, Caroline. 

American Female Poets, The; with Biographical and 
Critical Notes. Philadelphia, 1848. 
McCarty, Wm. 

Songs, Odes, and Other Poems, on National Subjects; 
compiled from various sources. Philadelphia, Wm. 
McCarty, 1842. 



Appendix 223 

Moore, Frank. 

Illustrated Ballad History of the American Revolu- 
tion. 1765-1783. N. Y., 1876. (Partially com- 
pleted.) 
Songs and Ballads of the American Revolution, The 
N. Y., 1856. 
Piatt, Charles D. 

Ballads of New Jersey in the Revolution. Morris- 
town, N. J., 1896. 
Sargent, Winthrop. 

Loyalist Poetry of the Revolution, The. Philadelphia, 

1857. 
Loyal Verses of Joseph Stansbury and Doctor Jonathan 
Odell, relating to the American Revolution. Now 
first edited by Winthrop Sargent. Albany, i860. 
Stedman, Edmund C. 

American Anthology, An. 1787-1900. Selections il- 
lustrating the Editor's Critical Review of American 
Poetry in the Nineteenth Century. Boston and 
N. Y., 1900. 
Stedman, Edmund C. and Hutchinson, Ellen M. 

Library of American Literature completed and edited 
by. 10 vols. (Vol. HI, The Revolution). N. Y., 
1888. 
Stevenson, Burton E. 

Poems of American History Collected and Edited by. 
Boston, 1908. 
Stone, William L. 

Ballads and Poems Relating to the Burgoyne Cam- 
paign, Annotated by. Albany, 1893. 

3. Criticalj Historical, Biographical 

Austin, Mary S. 

Philip Freneau, The Poet of the Revolution. A His- 
tory of His Life and Times. Edited by Helen K. 
Vreeland, great-granddaughter of the poet. N. Y., 
19DI. 



224 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Beers, Henry A. 

Initial Studies in American Letters. New York, 1892. 
Biographical Congressional Directory. 

1774-1903 — The Continental Congress: September 5, 
1774, to October 21, 1788, inclusive . . . com- 
piled under authority of Congress. Washington, 
1903. 
Brown, A. 

Women of Colonial and Revolutionary Times. N. Y., 
1896. 
Brown, John Howard, Ed. 

Lamb's Biographical Dictionary of the United States. 
Boston, 1900. 7 vols. Illustrated. 
Collins, J. C. 

Studies in Poetry and Criticism. 1905. 
DeLancey, Edward F. 

Philip Freneau, the Huguenot Patriot-Poet of the Rev- 
olution, and His Poetry. Reprinted from the Pro- 
ceedings of the Huguenot Society of America. Vol. 
II, No. 2, 1891. 
Duyckinck, Evert A. 

Poems of Philip Freneau relating to the American 
Revolution with an Introductory Memoir and notes. 
New York, 1865. 
Hildeburn, C. R. 

Biographical Sketch of Francis Hopkinson. Philadel- 
phia, 1878. 
Lossing, Benson J. 

Trumbull's "M'Fingal," ed. by. N. Y., 1857. 
Marble, Annie R. 

Hopkinson, Francis: Man of Affairs and Letters. New 
England Magazine, vol. 27, pp. 289-302. Boston, 
1902. 
Humphreys, David: His Services to American Free- 
dom and Industry. New England Magazine, vol. 
29, pp. 690-704. Boston, 1904. 



Appendix 225 

Mower, M. 

Phillis Wheatley, the African poetess. (From the 
Home Journal, April 5, 1893). 
National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Being the 
History of the United States as Illustrated in the 
Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of 
the Republic, and of the Men and Women who are 
doing the Work and Moulding the Thought of the 
Present Time. N. Y., 1893. Illustrated, 13 vols. ; 
Supplement I, 1910. 
Onderdonk, James L. 

History of American Verse, A. (1610-1897), Chicago, 
1901. 
Otis, William B. 

American Verse — 162 5- 1807. A History. N. Y., 
1909. 
Richardson, Charles F. 

American Literature, 2 vols. N. Y., 1887, 1889. 
Sabine, Lorenzo. 

Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American 
Revolution. 2 vols. Boston, 1864. 
Sears, Lorenzo. 

American Literature in Colonial and National Periods. 
Boston, 1902. 
Stedman, Edmund C. 

Poets of America. Boston, 1892. 
Thatcher, B. B. 

Memoir of Phillis Wheatley of Boston, 1834. 
Todd, C. B. 

Life and Letters of Joel Barlow . . . with ex- 
tracts from his works . . . N. Y., 1886. 
Trent, William P. 

History of American Verse. 1607- 1865. N. Y., 1903. 
Trumbull, James Hammond. 

Origin of MTingal, The. Morrisania, N. Y., 1868. 



226 The Spirit of the American Revolution 

Tyler, Moses C. 

Literary History of the American Revolution, The. 

1 763-1 783. 2 vols. N. Y., 1897. 
Three Men of Letters. (Includes Barlow). N. Y., 

1895. 
Wendell, Barrett. 

Literary History of America, A. N. Y., 1901. 
Whitcomb, Selden L. 

Chronological Outlines of American Literature. N. Y., 

1894. 

Wilson, James Grant and Fiske, John: Ed. 

Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography. N. Y., 
1898. 6 vols. 
Woodberry, George E. 

American Literature. N. Y., 1903. 
Winsor, Justin, Ed. 

Narrative and Critical History of America. Boston 
and New York, 1889. 8 vols. 



INDEX 



Adams, Professor H. B., 
quoted, 46. 

Adams, John, quoted on Pat- 
rick Henry, 57, 84. 

Adams, Samuel, 59, 109. 

"Address to the Armies of 
the United States of Amer- 
ica," 104, 189, 209. 

"Address to the Commander- 
in-Chief, Officers, and Sol- 
diers of the American 
Army, An," 208. 

Albany, 127. 

"Alliance," The Frigate, 
116. 

Alliance, The French, 135, 
215. 

"America Independent, 
Etc.," 143, ff. 

"American Crisis, The," 69. 

"American Liberty, A 
Poem," 72. 

"American Times, The," 
167. 

Andre, Major, 154, 175, ff. 

"Answer to the Messengers 
of the Nation, An," 158-9. 

Arnold, Benedict, early life, 
78, 128, 133, 173; men- 
tioned, 154; treason, 173, 
ff. 

"Arnold's Departure," 181. 



Bache, Mrs. Sarah, 171, 172. 
Bailev, Francis, 165. 
"Ballad of the Tea-Party," 

53. 
Barlow, Joel, 66, 79, 128, 

154, 195. 
"Battle of Bunker's Hill, 

The," 62. 
"Battle of the Kegs, The," 

24, 138. 
"Bay-Psalm Book, The," 19. 
Bemls's Heights, 128, 173. 
Bennington, 128, 129, 132, 

160. 
Bernard, Gov. Francis, 38. 
"BIglow Papers, The," 25. 
Bleecker, Ann Eliza, Life, 

78; Poem by, 78. 
"B o n Homme Richard, 

The," 165. 
Boston, 61, 63, 103, 104, 

109. 
Boston Massacre, 63. 
Brackenrldge, H. H., Life, 

62; Poems by, 26, 46, 62, 

104. 
"British Journal," Say's, 133. 
"British Light Infantry, 

The," 136. 
"British Prison-Ship, The," 

26, 182, flF. 



227 



228 



Index 



Brooklyn Heights, Battle of, 

117. 
Brown, Charles Brockden, 

20. 
Bunker Hill, Brackenridge's 

drama thereon, 62 ; 66, 67. 
Burgoyne, General John, 62, 

126, ff.; 144, 146, 155, 

156, 174, 197, 198. 
Burke, Edmund, 155. 
*'By a Farmer," 58. 

Calvinism, Influence of, in 
early American Verse, 19. 

Cambridge, 61, 174. 

Camden, 171. 

*'Camp Ballad, A," 141. 

Canada, 78, 103, 131, 173. 

"Captain Jones' Invitation," 
163. 

Carpenters' Hall, Philadel- 
phia, 58. 

Case, Rev. Wheeler, Poems 
by, 124, 158. 

Champlain, Lake, 127. 

Charlestown, Massachusetts, 

67. 

Charleston, South Carolina, 

170, 171. 
Clinton, Sir Henry, 62, 105, 

155, 170, 174, 178, 179. 
"Collection of Verses, A," 

37. 

College at Cambridge, Com- 
mencement, 1 76 1, 35. 

College of New Jersey, The, 
45, 62. 



College of Philadelphia, 
Commencement, 1761, 34. 

Colonial letters. See Verse, 
American, Prior to 1750. 

Colonization, Reasons there- 
for, 17. 

"Columbiad, The," 66, 154. 

Columbia College, 105. 

"Common Prayer for the 
Times, A," 108. 

Concord, 39, 60, 63. 

Congress, Continental, 46, 
60,73, 109, III, 114, 133, 
146, 160, 166, 174, 176, 
180, 202, 203, 215. 

"Conquest of Canaan, The," 
19. 

Cooper, Reverend Dr. Myles, 
Life of, 105 ; mentioned, 
88, 108; Poem by, 106. 

Cornwallis, Lord, 123, 154, 
180, 190, 191, 192, £f. 

"Cornwalliad, The," 125. 

Crawshaw, Professor, quot- 
ed, 23. 

"Day of Doom, The," 19. 

Delaware River, The, 114, 
123, 137, 183. 

Declaration of Independence, 
The, 46, 109, 113, 121, 
140, 143. 

De Peyster, J. Watts, quot- 
ed, 128. 

D'Estaing, 179. 



Index 



229 



"Dialogue between His Bri- 
tannic Majesty and Mr. 
Fox, A," 156. 

Dickinson, John, Life of, 
41 ; quoted, 1 10; Poem by, 
41. 

Drama, Revolutionary, 25, 
26. 

Duche, Rev. Mr., 35. 

Duffield, Rev. George, Chap- 
lain of Congress, 167. 

D u n 1 a p's ''Pennsylvania 
Packet," 74, 80. 

Dunmore, 71, 72. 

"Dutch Song, The," 159. 

Duyckinck, Evart, quoted, 
140. 

Dwight, Timothy, 66. 

"Dying, Indian, The," 25 ; 
97. 

Eighteenth Century, change 
in colonial outlook, 19. 

"Elegy on the Death of Gen- 
eral Montgomery'," 78. 

Epic poetry of the Revolu- 
tion, 25, 26. 

Eutaw Springs, 19, 24, 25, 
193-4. 

"Farmer's Letters, The," 41. 
"Feu de Joie," 166. 
Flamborough Head, Victory 

off, 147, 161. 
"Form of Prayer, A," 153-4. 
Fort Green Park Monument, 

190. 



Fox, Charles James, 155, 

156. 

France and the French, 144, 

146, 179, 180, 195, 215. 
Franklin, Benjamin, 20, 130, 

147, 171, 199. 
Freedom. See Independence. 
Freeman's Farm, Battle of, 

128. 

"Freeman's Journal," 114, 
165, 207, 209, 210. 

"Free Thoughts on the Pro- 
ceedings of the Continental 
Congress," 58. 

Freneau, Philip, criticism, 
46, 83, 143, 144, 154,217; 
influence, 216, 218; Life, 
45, 47, 214; popularity of 
verse, qualities of verse, 
24, 26, 70, 193, 205; 
Poems by, 19, 25, 72, 74, 
155, 163-165, 177, 193, 
197, 206, 210. 

Gage, General, 62, 72, 74, 
76, 77, 87, 89, 90, 91, 93. 

Gaine, Hugh, 206, 214. 

Gates, General Horatio, 123, 
129, 132, 133, 171, 199. 

"Gazette Publications," 62. 

"General Gage's Confes- 
sion," 77. 

"General Gage's Soliloquy," 

74.. 
Georgia, 215. 
George II, King, death of, 

34, 76. 



230 



Index 



George III, King, 32, 47, 
59, 70, 71, 75, 76, 107, 
112, 115, 124, 141, 144, 
157, 168, 186, 207. 

"George the Third's Soli- 
loquy," 155. 

Green, John Richard, quoted, 
32, 206. 

"Green Mountain Boys," 
128. 

Greene, General Nathaniel, 
128, 173, 191, 193, ff., 
199. 

Grenville, Lord, 33. 

"Group, The," 25. 

"Halq^on Days of Old Eng- 
land, The," 136. 

Hale, Nathan, 118, ff; Poem 
on, 119, 175. 

Hamilton, Alexander, 106. 

Hancock, John, 59, 113, 122, 
147, 183, 199- 

Harlem Heights, Battle of, 
121. 

Hartford Wits, The, 66. 

Harvard College, i8. 

Henry, Patrick, 57. 

Herkimer, General, 128. 

Hessians, 123, 124. 

"High on the Banks of Del- 
aware," 81. 

Hopkins, Lemuel, 66. 

Hopkinson, Francis, criti- 
cism, 83, 142; his life, 
1 40 1 ; his poetry, 24, 34, 
35; Poems by, 25, 36, 138; 



quoted, 33, 35, 216. 
Hospital-Ships, British, 186, 

fF. 
Howe, General, 33, 62, 65, 

76, 104, 117, 122, 145. 
"Hudibras," Butler's, 24, 97. 
Hudson River, The, 115, 

117, 121, 126, 127, 129, 

175, 195. 

Humphreys, David, 66, 104, 
189, 209. 

"Hunter, The," British Hos- 
pital-Ship, 186. 

"Hymn for the Loyal Ameri- 
icans, A," 168, 

Independence, early feeling 
on, 40, 41 ; Declaration of, 
109. 

"Indian Burying - Ground, 
The," 25. 

Irving, Washington, 20. 

James River, The, 195. 

Jefferson, Thomas, mention- 
ed, 199; quoted on inde- 
pendence, 40; state papers 
of, 58, 109. 

Johnston, Professor H. P., 
quoted, 176. 

Jones, John Paul, 146, i6i, 

165. 

King's College, 105. 
King's Mountain, 191. 
Knowlton's "Rangers," 118. 
Kinsale, Head of, 161. 



Index 



as I 



Ladd, Joseph B., Poem by, 

198. 
Lafayette, Marquis de, 128, 

179, 195. 
Lafayette, Mme., 172. 
Lee, General Charles, 122, 

123. 
Lee, Richard Henry, 109. 
"Let Us Be Happy As Long 

As We Can," 204. 
Lexington, 39, 59, 60, 63, 

147, 213. 
"Libera Nos, Domine," 70. 
"Liberty Song, The," 41 : 

parody thereon, 43. 
"Liberty-Tree, The," 68. 
Limitations of Revolutionary 

bards, 18. 
Lincoln, General, 129, 133, 

170, 171. 
Literature, Colonial. See 

Verse, American, Prior to 

1750. 
Lodge, Henry Cabot, quoted, 

193- 
"London Evening Post, 

The," 136. 
Long Island, Campaign on, 

109, 117, 121. 
Louis, King of France, 130. 
"Lovewell's Fight," 19. 
Lovvr, Samuel, quoted, 199; 

Poem by, 199. 
Lowell, James Russell, 25. 
Loyalists, 39, 47, 107, 146, 

153, 166, 203, 213, 214. 



"Loyalists, The," 168. 
Lyric poetry, 25, 26. 

Madison, James, 46. 

Marion, General, 191. 

McCrea, Jane, 128, 145. 

"M'Fingal," 83, ff; criti- 
cism, 97, 98; Origin of, 
84 ; The author of, 24, 83 ; 
the poem itself, 25, 86, ff. 

Massachusetts. See Boston, 
Concord, Lexington, etc. 

Matthews, Professor Brand- 
er, quoted, 18, 20. 

"Midnight Consultations, 
The," 76. 

"Military Song, A, etc.," 
104. 

Ministry, British, 33, 39, 70, 

77, 145- 

Mohawt Valley, 127-8. 
"Monody, A," 177. 
Montague, 71, 72. 
Montgomery, General, 26, 

78, 79, 160, 199. 

Mt. Vernon, Washington's 
return to, 210. 

Narrative poetry, 25, 26. 
Nathan Hale, 118, fiF. 
"Nathan Hale," 119. 
Navy of the Revolution, 

The, 146, ff. 
New Brunswick, 113, 125. 
New England, colonization 

thereof, 17; 126, 130. 
New Hampshire, 215. 



^3^ 



Index 



New Jersey, 109, 113, 124, 

140, 171. 
Newspapers, 37, 205, 214, 

215. 
New York, 109, 113, 126, 

128, 130, 145, 214. 
New York City, 109, 121, 

127, 166, 174, 182, 184, 

203, 208, 215. 
"New York Gazette," Riv- 

ington's, 43, 57, 206. 
"New York Mercury," 

Gaine's, 37, 39, 206. 
North, Lord, 33, 71, 76. 
"Northern Campaign, The," 

131. 

"Ode for the Year 1778," 

134. 

'^Ode on the King's Birth- 
day," III. 

Odell, Reverend Jonathan, 
III, 113, 166, 167, 215. 

"Old Ironsides," 147. 

"On Independence," 115. 

"On the Death of His late 
Gracious Majesty," 34. 

"On the British King's 
Speech Recommending 
Peace with the American 
States," 207. 

"On the Fall of General 
Earl Cornwallis," 197. 

"On the Memorable Vic- 
tory," 165. 

"On the New American 
Frigate, AUiance,^^ 147. 



"On the Storm of Thunder 
and Lightning ... the 
Day the Generals Embark- 
ed for America," 74. 

Oriskany, 128. 

Oswego, 127. 

"Our Women," 172. 

Paine, Thomas, Life of, 69; 

me n t i on ed, 165, 199; 

Poem by, 68; quoted, 109- 

iio, 121. 
Paris, Convention of, 131, 

155, 215. 
Parliament, 32, 33, 34, 38, 

41, 47, 126. 
"Parody, A," 38. 
Pattee, Professor F. L., 

quoted, 46, 147, 165, 193; 

mentioned, 218. 
Paulding, John, 176. 
"Peace," 199. 
Peace, welcomed, 199, ff; 

Treaty of, 203. 
Pennsylvania, no, 171. 
"Pennsylvania Chronicle, 

The," 43. 
"Pennsylvania Journal," 69, 

121. 
"Pennsylvania Magazine," 

68. 
"Pennsylvania March," 80. 
"Pennsylvania Packet," Dun- 
lap's, 74, 80, 159. 
Pennsylvania, University of, 

140. 



Index 



233 



Philadelphia, 57, 58, 60, 62, 

109, 122, 127, 137, 138, 

140, 159, 168, 182, 214, 

215. 
Pickens, General, 191. 
"Picture of the Times with 

Occasional Reflections, A," 

206. 
Poetry. See Verse. 
''Political Balance, The," 

207. 
''Political Litany, A," 70. 
Princeton, 123, 125. 
Prison-Ship, The British, 

181, ff. 
Pro-American feeling, Brit- 
ish, 213. 
"Prospect of America. The," 

198. 
"Prospect of the Future 

Glory of America, The," 

52. 
"Public Spirit of the Wo- 

men,"i37. 
Puritan Influence on Amen- 

can Letters, 19. 
Putnam, General, 62, 67. 

Queen Anne, Influence uf 
age of, 27. 

Randolph, John, 40. 
Reconciliation, Hope of, 

155- 
Reed, General Joseph, 137, 

171. 
Reed, Mrs. Joseph, 171. 



Restoration, Influence of age 
of, 27. 

Retreat through New Jer- 
sey, Washington's, 121. 

Retreat through the Caro- 
linas, Greene's, 191, 196. 

"Rising Glory of America, 
The," 46, 47, 70. 

Rittenliouse, David, 199. 

Rivington, James, 43, 57, 
89, 166, 167, 205, 206, 
214. 

Rochambeau, General, 128, 

179, 195. 
Roosevelt, Theodore, quoted, 

190. 
Rose, J. Holland, quoted, 

207. 
"Royal Gazette, The," 136, 

166, 167. 

Sabine, Lorenzo, quoted, 37. 
Sanderson, John, quoted, 

142. 
Saratoga, 155. 
Sargent, Winthrop, quoted, 

134, 166, 205. 
Satire, 26, 205. 
Savannah, Siege of, 215. 
Say's "British Journal," 133. 
Schuyler, General, 128, 133. 
"Scorpion, The," prison-ship, 

182, 184, 186. 
Seabury, Rev. Samuel, 59, 

88 
"Serapis, The," 165. 
Seward, Anna, 177. 



234 



Index 



Shipley, Dr., Bishop of St. 

Asaph, quoted, 43. 
Ships, British Prison and 

Hospital. See Hospital- 

Ships and Prison-Ships, 

181, ff; 186, ff. 
"Sir Harry's Invitation," 

155. 
Smith, Goldwin, quoted on 

measures of repression, 33 ; 

on Howe, 65. 
"Song of Braddock's Men," 

19. 

South Carolina, Campaign 
in, 191, 193. 

"Spy, The," 26, 177, ff. 

Stamp Act, The: See Taxa- 
tion, 33, 37, 38. 

Stamp Act, The repeal of 
the, 33. 

Stansbury, Joseph, 134, 204. 

Stark, General, 128, 132. 
160. 

Staten Island, 117. 

Stillwater, 132, 

St. Leger, General, 128. 

Stone, William L., quoted, 

Stony Point, 156. 

Sullivan, General, 199. 

"Summary View of the 
Rights of British Ameri- 
ca, A," 58. 

Sumter, General, 191. 

Tallmadge, Major Benja- 
min, 175, 176. 
Tappan, New York, 175. 



Taxation, 33, 34. 

"Tea-Party, Boston," 53. 

"Thanksgiving Hymn, A," 
201. 

"Thoughts on the Present 
State of American Af- 
fairs," 70, 109. 

Ticonderoga, 123, 127, 131. 

"Toast, The," 142. 

Tories, The, 39, 40, 58, 72, 
107, 155, 156, 167, 185, 
197, 205, 214. 

"To Britain," 133. 

"To Lord Cornwallis at 
York, Virginia," 197. 

"To the Americans," 77. 

"To the Memory of the 
Brave Americans," 193-4. 

Townshend, Charles, 33. 

Treaty of Alliance, The. 
See Alliance. 

Trenton, 122, 123, 125. 

Trevelyan, Sir George O., 
quoted, 71, 213. 

Trumbull, John, criticism, 
140, 154; Life of, 83: 
quoted, 52; his master- 
piece, 24, 25, 83, ff. 

"Truth Anricipated," 206. 

Tryon, General, 71, 72, 

Tyler, Professor, quoted, 24, 
39, 66, 214, 217. 

Union, Spirit of, 20, 203. 
"Unite or Die," 57- 
United States, 116, 131, 159. 
"United States, Th&," 204. 



Index 



235 



''United States Magazine, 
The," 62, 155, 156, 168. 

"Upon our Grand Congress, 
etc.," 114. 

Valcour Island, 173. 

Van Dyke, Henry, 48. 

Van Wart, Isaac, 176. 

Verse, American, Prior to 
1750, 17. 

Verse, English, in XVIII 
century, 18, 19. 

Verse, Historical Value of, 
212. 

Verse, Revolutionary, from a 
Purely Literary View- 
point, 21, 27. 

''Verses Occasioned by Gen- 
eral Washington's Arrival 
in Philadelphia on his way 
to his seat in Virginia," 
210. 

"Vindication," Dickinson's, 
no. 

Virginia, 59. 

"Virginia Banishing Tea," 

54; 

"Vision of Columbus, The," 
66, 79, 128, 195, ff. 

Wallabout Bay, Prison-ships 

at, 190. 
Warren, General, 62, 64, 

68. 
Warren, Mercy Otis, 26. 
Washington, George, 59, 61, 

66, 73, 75, 103, 113, 115, 



117, 118, 121, 122, 123, 
124, 128, 133, 137, 141, 
142, 160, 171, 172, 173, 
174, 176, 177, 195, ff. 
199, 201, 202, 203, 208, 
209, 216. 

Wayne, General Anthony, 

167, 199. 
Wendell, Professor Barrett, 

quoted, 20, 217. 
Wesley, Rev. John, 168. 
West Point, 175. 
White Plains, Battle of, 121. 
Wigglesworth, Michael, 19. 
"Wild Honeysuckle, The," 

19. 
Williams, David, 176. 
William and Mary College, 

sentiment thereof, 46. 
Wilson, Woodrow, quoted, 

212. 
Winsor, Justin, quoted on 

Dickinson's "Liberty 

Song," 42. 
Witherspoon, John, his in- 
fluence, 46. 
Women, Public Spirit of 

Revolutionary, 44. 
"Word of Congress, The,^' 

167. 

Yale College, Commence- 
ment, 1770, 18, 52; 66, 

118, 175. 

"Yankee Man - of - War, 

The," 161. 
Yorktown, 191, 192, E, 203. 



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